Abigail Webster

Abigail Webster is a Lecturer at the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship (ICCE) at Goldsmiths, University of London. She teaches on the BA Arts Management programme, convening modules on cultural theory and audience studies.

• PhD in Visual & Material Cultures (viva pending, 2025), Northumbria University
• MA in Arts, Festival & Cultural Management, Queen Margaret University (2021)
• BA(Hons) in Painting, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh (2015)

Her research focuses on how administrative infrastructures in cultural organizations mediate power relations, particularly examining financial health metrics, equality and diversity mandates, and the gendered dynamics of cultural labor. She draws on Marxian feminist theory, critiques of neoliberal auditing, and historical analysis of colonial administration.

Recent publications explore the impact of funding closures on freelance cultural labor and critical reflections on equality policies in the UK cultural sector. Her doctoral thesis, 'Politics of Administrative Infrastructures: Contemporary Art Organisations and the State in Scotland,' analyzes the role of the state in shaping cultural governance.

Affiliations include the ICCE and its Creative Entrepreneurship Cluster, with active participation in academic symposia such as the BSA 'Work, Employment and Society' conference and the 'Social Production of Art' symposium at the University of Leeds.