The Cult of Creativity

A history of how, in the mid-twentieth century, we came to believe in the concept of creativity. Named a best book of 2023 by the New Yorker and a notable book of 2023 by Behavioral Scientist.

The Cult of Creativity examines how creativity became one of American society's signature values, despite being a relatively recent concept that entered our everyday speech in the 1950s. Samuel W. Franklin reveals how postwar Americans developed the idea of creativity through campaigns that aimed to harness the individual’s power to meet the demands of American capitalism and life during the Cold War.

Creativity was championed by a diverse group of professionals—psychologists, engineers, and advertising experts—as a solution for the conformity and alienation they believed stifled American ingenuity. It was promoted as a force of individualism and the human spirit, becoming a new middle-class aspiration suited to the needs of corporate America and the spirit of anticommunism.

In the face of increasingly rigid systems, creativity took on an alluring aura; it was perceived as a more democratic trait than genius, yet more refined than mere intelligence. The term's ambiguity allowed various people and institutions to claim it as a remedy for issues ranging from corporate stagnation to urban decay. In today’s world, where creativity is continually sought, quantified, and maximized, Franklin's insightful history of the concept sheds light on its true nature and whom it genuinely benefits.