Author: Paulo Faustino
Cite as:
Faustino, P. (2025). Creative industries matter: Cultural and economic assets and their societal externalities [Foreword]. Journal of Creative Industries and Cultural Studies – JOCIS, 13, 15-20.
INTRODUCTION The cultural and creative industries have established themselves as one of the most dynamic areas, attracting increasing attention in social science research and teaching, although they also intersect with economics and business studies. Positioned at the intersection of culture, economics, management, technology, and politics, these industries reflect profound changes in modes of production, forms of work, consumption patterns, and systems of governance. Creativity, once understood primarily as an individual or artistic expression, is now widely recognised as an important symbolic asset (associated with the soft power of nations) and economic asset (associated with the model of development that makes nations), and is shaped by institutional frameworks, technological infrastructures, market logics, and specific socio-cultural contexts. In this conceptual context, the 13th issue of the Journal of Creative Industries and Cultural Studies (JOCIS) is published.