Williams has noted the role of cultural studies is “the making of society” which “requires the finding of common meanings and direction” (Williams 1958: 93). Cultural studies as a (non) discipline has arguably spawned an array of emerging disciplines including the creative industries, which to some extent encompasses convergence cultures. Recent humanities scholarship has called for researchers to move beyond the marvel of convergence cultures as a form of cultural studies with its potential for increased social inclusion and cultural diversity, to a more nuanced understanding of participation. Participation in this instance may be mobilised by an increased capacity for economic or political gain, or, more likely, to satisfy the increase in the attention economy addressed through networked individualism. Given this provocation to extend our understanding of convergence culture beyond the “80 per cent speculative fiction” (Turner 2011) argument, scholars within the cultural studies discipline should be looking towards grounded approaches of audience participation within the media and communication sectors. The provocation also poses the question, is convergence culture an adequate framework to investigate the increasing political engagement alongside the increasing individualisation of mass communication? Jenkins (2013) recently commented, “cultural scholars from varied traditions have much to learn from each other if we can move past a history of internal culture wars and towards a more productive dialogue that balances critique and advocacy” (p 2). The data in this paper seeks to satisfy that balance through the findings of a three-year ethnographic research project that investigated participatory cultures at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), specifically ABC Pool (www.abc.net.au/pool). The data emerges from practice-based research and suggests participation does impact on greater democratic processes, however it is the work of the cultural intermediary that facilitates this process. Finally, this paper seeks to consolidate the convergence culture framework as a suitable approach to understand the broader policy and regulation disciplines.

1. Moving Convergence Cultures
Beyond ‘Speculative Fiction’ to
Grounded Experience:
Embedded cultural research
Jonathon Hutchinson
University of Sydney
@dhutchman

2. Why?
• Perspectives of cultural studies
• Historical rhetoric/debates
• Highlight potential for embedded cultural
research
• Case study – the ABC
• Impact on the creative economy?

3. Cultural studies…
“the making of society” which “requires the
finding of common meanings and direction”
(Williams 1958: 93).

4. Creative Industries

5. Convergence cultures
to investigate the impact of media and
communication and the potential
democratising effects of greater participation

6. But…
“they have little in the way of an independent
academic or intellectual agenda, but rather see
themselves as serving the demands of an
industry that seems magically to have shed its
association with capital and become
unproblematically identified with the people”
(Turner 2012: 95)

7. The need for empirical data, then?

9. The problem with participation
“One has to feel invited, com- mitted and/or
empowered to enter into a participatory
process. But the presence of a participatory
culture cannot be conflated with participation
itself and its logics of equal(ised) power
relations” (Carpentier & Dahlgren 2009: 7)

10. Creative economy
In the recent UNCTAD Creative Economy report
(2013), a call for the input between cultural
practice and local, national and regional
governance policy has been expressed,
traditionally labelled ‘cultural policy’

11. Point of departure
Embedded cultural practice provides us with
rich, qualitative research empirical data
This data in turn helps us to understand the
cultural tapestry of states, nations & regions
This knowledge assists in creating highly
nuanced policy and regulation

12. Thank you