printCareer Strategies of Emerging Artists:
Reconstructing Subjective Perceptions
Isakova P.Y.
Marketer, AST Publishing House, Moscow, Russia pyuisakova_1@edu.hse.ru
Moiseeva D.V.
Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Senior Researcher, Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology, HSE University, Moscow, Russia dmoiseeva@hse.ru
The study was carried out within the framework of the HSE University Basic Research Program (HSE-BR-2025-45).
Isakova P.Y., Moiseeva D.V. Career Strategies of Emerging Artists: Reconstructing Subjective Perceptions. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2026. No 9. P. 124-132
When building their careers, emerging artists face the need to choose between professional recognition, commercial success, and creative autonomy—a dilemma shaped by the institutional heterogeneity of the Russian art market. This study aims to reconstruct and develop a typology of career strategies employed by emerging artists within this context. The theoretical framework draws on the concept of fields of strategic action (N. Fligstein, D. McAdam) and the theory of capital (P. Bourdieu). Based on desk research and semi-structured interviews, the structure of the field was identified (including dominant players, challengers, internal governance units, and actors from adjacent fields), and an empirical typology of four career strategies was constructed: gallery-based prestige, mass visibility and social capital accumulation, commercialization through creative business, and an open (hybrid) strategy. The findings demonstrate that, in the absence of formalized career tracks, artists act as strategic agents who situationally convert symbolic, social, and economic capital to secure professional legitimation and sustainable career development.
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