ABSTRACT
This chapter brings into dialogue several bodies of literature, including analyses of the cultural and creative industries, cultural work, and inequalities in the cultural workforce; Foucauldian approaches to neoliberalism and entrepreneurialism; perspectives from gender and cultural studies, which have documented young women’s and cultural workers’ positioning as entrepreneurial subjects; and studies of the classical music profession. By discussing these fields of research, the chapter embeds the book’s analysis in its wider theoretical context and provides a rationale for focusing on the working lives of young, female classical musicians. Lastly, the chapter introduces the study’s research methodology.
