GaWC Research Network: Allan Watson

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Allan Watson

GaWC Associate Director (Cultural and Creative Industries)

Allan Watson first contributed to GaWC in 2008 with a research bulletin on local and global knowledge networks in London's music industry, and in 2012 Allan completed a PhD thesis at Loughborough which examined the relational geographies of cultural production and work in London's recording studio sector. As a cultural and creative economy scholar, Allan's research sits at the intersection of economic, cultural and urban geographies. Drawing on a relational framework, Allan's research has critically examined the scales and network dynamics of cultural production, with a particular focus on 1) the relational economic geographies of cultural and media industries with regards to knowledge and business networks within and between cities; and 2) issues around relational work and creative practice in the cultural economy, including emotional labour and precarity. Recent collaborations with other GaWC scholars include work with Michael Hoyler examining the global urban geographies of media corporations, and undertaking an evaluation of qualitative approaches to World City Network research with Jonathan Beaverstock.

Allan Watson is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Loughborough University. He has published articles in several international refereed journals including Environment and Planning A, Global Networks, Area, and Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. Allan is author of ‘Cultural Production in and beyond the Recording Studio' (Routledge, 2014).