Oli Mould Explained

Oli Mould is a British professor in human geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. His academic research, and his writing, focuses on the role of urban creativity, activism and politics.^[1]

Work

In his book Urban Subversion and the Creative City (2016), Mould demonstrates a very different way of thinking about creativity than that offered by the neoliberal city, "through a variety of subversive practices, from skateboarding and parkour, to urban explorations." The book is "filled with images and global examples".^[2]

In Against Creativity (2018), he questions Richard Florida's idea of the creative class, arguing that "much of what we call 'creative' today is not creative at all but rather cementing the status quo, forever in the service of capital, labor, and consumption."^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}

In Seven Ethics Against Capitalism (2021), "Mould sets down seven ethics which, together, can be used to attack the beast: mutualism, transmaterialism, minoritarianism, decodification, slowness, failure and love."^[7]

Publications

• Urban Subversion and the Creative City. Routledge, 2016. .^[8]
• Against Creativity: Everything you have been told about creativity is wrong. Verso, 2018. .^{[9] [10] [11]}
  • Contra la creatividad. Capitalismo y domesticación del talento. Madrid: Fabeto, 2019. . Spanish-language version. Translated by Pablo Hermida Lazcano.
• Seven Ethics Against Capitalism: Towards a Planetary Commons. Polity, 2021. .^[7]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dr Oli Mould - Research - Royal Holloway, University of London .
2. Web site: 2021-10-29. Oli Mould, "Urban Subversion and the Creative City" (Routledge, 2015). New Books Network.
3. Web site: 2021-10-29. Against Design?. Design Observer.
4. Web site: 2021-10-28. Against Creativity by Oli Mould review – the dullest of jobs is now 'creative'. 26 September 2018. The Guardian.
5. Web site: 2021-10-28. Oli Mould, Against Creativity. 25 January 2021. Chicago Review.
6. Web site: Rhea. Rollmann. 2021-10-28. Has 'Creativity' Become a Dirty Word? On Oli Mould's 'Against Creativity', PopMatters. 21 August 2018. Pop Matters.
7. Web site: Colin. Crouch. 2021-10-28. Utopians against capitalism. 11 October 2021. Social Europe.
8. Robert. Hollands. Book review: Urban Subversion and the Creative City. Urban Studies. 1 September 2016. 0042-0980. 2673–2675. 53. 12. 10.1177/0042098016652556. 148288028.
9. Web site: 2021-10-28. Why the capitalist definition of creativity is a contradiction in terms. 9 September 2018. Morning Star.
10. Web site: 2021-10-28. Mould, le oscure trame della creatività. 8 December 2018. Il manifesto.
11. Web site: 2021-10-29. The oppressiveness of creativity. openDemocracy.