Difference, Competition and Disproportion. The Sociology of Creative Work

Work creates and transforms the social world. Its least predictable and most admired embodiment, artistic and scientific invention, seems to defy causal analysis and statistical regularities. Far more than the exploration of the conscious and infraconscious processes of individual inventiveness, the social ecology of creative work is what enables sociological analysis of work. Pierre-Menger’s analysis identifies three crucial characteristics: an unlimited differentiation of outputs, competitive mechanisms exploiting the uncertainty of success, and a disproportionate focus on gain and reputation.