ITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION

Creativity is now a “hotspot”, an important agenda appointment: the phenomenon is unequivocally attested to by the growth of creative consulting agencies and departments for creativity in organizations, by the surge of books on “how to do it”, by the expansion of research on the subject, by the establishment of institutes for creativity and by its applications in the organizational field. Being creative today pays off. It remains true, however, that the value of the creative attitude, now back to being esteemed and sought after, goes far beyond the immediate usefulness of its instrumental applications. Creativity is a dynamic which has to do with the very expression of human action, with humanity’s identity, its values and its social and civil achievements. It therefore has to do with social relations and, in particular, with relationships that insist on the human dimension of interactions, particularly for those on which we need to rely. The article aims to highlight the social dimensions of creativity, effective strategies for its development, and possible ways and conditions for its evaluation within the perspective of the Relational Theory of Society