Turning post-materialism on its head: self-expression, autonomy and precarity at work in the creative industries

This article investigates values of work in the creative industries in the Netherlands by researching whether non-material values of work are more important than material values, and how this is impacted by precarity. Two approaches are evaluated: post-materialist theory and critical research on the creative industries. The results of the vignette survey confirm that the relationship between precarity and non-material work values is not straight forward. There is a clear preferences among creative workers for non-material values of work such as autonomy and self-expression, compared to material rewards such as pay and benefits, even when controlled for levels of precarity experienced by respondents. These results point towards the conclusion that post-materialism theories fail to explain the values of work at a vanguard sector of post-fordist economies, suggesting instead that more research is needed into the relationship between non-material values and precarity.