Family, Factory, Incubator. Self-Organization of “Place” Creative Community Case Study

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the story of self-organized “Place” Creative Community which was located at the former Kalinina Factory premise in Saint-Petersburg in 2009-2012. The study was based on the interviews with participants of the community, insider`s observations and document analysis. The author shows the relation between the accumulated symbolic capital of the creative community and the transformation of its social structure. According to the author, neither western nor Russian literature considers the changing character of relations between participants of the creative community. Accumulation of symbolic capital is only seen as a condition for investment. The strategy of the conversion of symbolic capital (into economic one) initially created by the community on the former industrial territory is successfully put into practice in Europe and America. As far as Russia is concerned, the emergence of creative and commercially attractive areas through the efforts of the artistic and creative community is scarce. The studies covering urban creative areas usually ignore the inner processes which lay the ground for the second phase of the transformation of the industrial space in the XXI century. The article describes how a small but close community is evolving, while creating its presence, into an extended union of loosely coupled individuals and small work teams.