ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the significance of local structures in the form of policies, key individuals and organisations in relation to local cultural entrepreneurs. It suggests that collaborations between cultural entrepreneurs are evidence of agentic actions in the face of precarious labour, mitigating against some of the insecurities in cultural work. The chapter also explores more specifically Birmingham cultural milieu and the collegiate entrepreneurial actions of cultural entrepreneurs. It presents a series of experimental projects, forms of alternative structure, which work with and against formal policies to create Birmingham's distinctiveness. The chapter also suggests that there is an imbalance between cultural micro-entrepreneurs and public institutions which have power and resources, but cultural entrepreneurs demonstrate surprising resilience and a determination to shape their environment. It also suggests that collective agency enables cultural entrepreneurs to find meaning in entrepreneurial activities, motivating individuals to negotiate a version of 'good' work, within visible and invisible structures.
