Creativity and Tourism Networks : A Contribution to a Post-Mechanistic Economic Theory

• We criticize ‘orthodox’ economic theory byapplying the philosophical framework developed by K.H. Brodbeck (2008; 2012). Accordingly,we argue that creativity represents the core activity conducted within theboundaries of socio-economic networks. After discussing the changing notion of creativity throughout history ofthinking, the elements of a post-mechanistic economic framework are presented. Bydoing so, we elaborate on the idea that market economies are complex networksystems of interacting agents (individuals, organisations). In the second part,we conduct network analysis to assess network topologies of European tourismdestinations. By applying the network metric Simmelian brokerage (Latora et al. 2013), we show how network closureand structural holes can affect humans’ creativity. Findings reveal that European destinations show serious creativity gaps.

Nyckelord

creativity

tourism networks

post-mechanistic economic theory

network analysis

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