Culture and Creativity

Where does creativity come from? How do new ideas emerge, take shape, become materialized into products, and gain acceptance? Culture and Creativity offers a compelling account of creativity as a fundamentally social process.

Moving beyond individualistic and psychological explanations, this book explores how creativity is shaped by cultural norms, knowledge exchange, material conditions, cognitive process, social networks, and organizational structures. Drawing on a wide range of interdisciplinary research, it examines the collective dynamics behind innovation in areas as diverse as art, cuisine, music, science, and technology. Structured around four key themes – culture, materiality, cognition, and social organization – each chapter introduces foundational theories, engages contemporary debates, and explores case studies of how creativity happens in practice.

Written in an accessible yet rigorous style, Culture and Creativity is an essential resource for students and scholars in the social sciences and humanities, as well as anyone interested in understanding creativity. It sets a new agenda for viewing creativity not as a mysterious force but as a patterned, explainable, and deeply embedded feature of social life.

• Publication date: 23 October 2026
• Page count: 180
• Dimensions: Height 216 mm; Width 153 mm; Thickness 20 mm
• Publisher: Polity Press
• Format: Hardback
• ISBN-13: 9781509546862