What concerns us here is how to best make sense of the proliferation of subjectivities under neol... more What concerns us here is how to best make sense of the proliferation of subjectivities under neoliberal circumstances in a way that recognises the role of agency without falling into the trap of voluntarism. This is what we see as the puzzle of identity in neoliberal times. As Gill (2008: 433) has pointed out, those studying neoliberalism have a rich array of conceptual tools available for minutely dissecting cultural forms and, yet, there “is very little understanding of how culture relates to subjectivity, identity or lived embodied experiences of selfhood”. Our chapter represents a modest attempt to address this gap in the literature by offering an account of social identity which draws on Margaret Archer’s (2007) work on biography and reflexivity but also incorporating Foucauldian concerns into the picture so to conceptualise the production of subjectivities in terms of the iterative unfolding of agency and power over the lifecourse. We elaborate this perspective through a brief...
The consumption of digital games has become increasingly "gamblified" (Gainsbury et al,... more The consumption of digital games has become increasingly "gamblified" (Gainsbury et al, 2015; Zanescu et al, 2020) in recent years. Due to the changes in media landscape such as the development of new forms of gambling via the Internet and mobile phones, consumers can now play games and gamble in real-time and from almost any location (Newall et al, 2019; King et al, 2010; Griffiths & Parke, 2010). The growing intersections between digital games, gambling, and consumption practices afforded by these technological changes take many forms (Albarran-Torres, 2018). Some players pursue what has become known as "skin betting", which involves wagering digital "skins" (virtual appearances) of characters either within games or on third-party websites and platforms (Greer et al, 2019); others bet on esports (competitive digital gaming) competitions in a manner comparable to traditional sports betting (Gainsbury et al, 2017); others utilise "gamblified" monetisation methods when watching and engaging with live-streamed digital game content on platforms such as Twitch.tv (Abarbanel & Johnson, 2020); while others still purchase loot boxes, the focus of many of the papers in our particular issues, which involve paying real-world money for an unpredictable set of in-game virtual items (Macey & Hamari, 2019, Nielsen & Grabarczyk, 2019). Our goal in this special issue is to begin to elucidate some of the changes in consumption patterns, both within "gaming" and "gambling", that we see heralded by these developments.
This article examines how ‘gambling’ secured a central economic and cultural position in the deve... more This article examines how ‘gambling’ secured a central economic and cultural position in the development of modern digital games. We first trace how developers have monetized ‘games’ and ‘play’, from slot machines to PC, console and mobile platforms, before considering the recent controversy over ‘loot boxes’ as an emblematic case study of the ongoing gamblification of digital play. We argue that (1) the rising costs of development and marketing for ‘blockbuster’ games, (2) an overcrowded marketplace and (3) significant shifts in the corporate culture of the games industry are creating cultural conditions which legitimize gambling as a form of digital game production and consumption. This is evidenced in developers’ capacity to innovate around legal challenges and player demand for further customization and rewards. What emerges is a question about the future direction of game development and the impact of a logic of money, rather than play, which now underwrites it.
In this paper we examine the pursuit of celebrity through the live broadcast (‘streaming’) of vid... more In this paper we examine the pursuit of celebrity through the live broadcast (‘streaming’) of video games as an expression of an emerging moral economy of contemporary digital capitalism. Live streaming is a novel form overwhelmingly found amongst young people disproportionately harmed by the economic crisis, and we propose that the contraction of employment opportunities is giving rise to a strong imperative to be seen, which finds an outlet in the practices of self-presentation, self-promotion and entrepreneurial enterprise that are central to financially-successful live streaming. We first outline relevant contemporary economic conditions, the disproportionately high prizes at the top of career paths, the attendant lures of fame and fortune, and how the politics of play have been affected by these changes. We then explore Twitch.tv (the leading game live streaming platform) as our case study, covering how streamers make themselves appealing, market themselves, profit, and how the...
In Man, Play and Games, Roger Caillois warns against the “rationalization” of play by working lif... more In Man, Play and Games, Roger Caillois warns against the “rationalization” of play by working life and argues that the professionalization of competitive games (agôn) will have a negative impact on people and society. In this article, I elaborate on Caillois’ argument by suggesting that the professional context of electronic sports (e-Sports) rationalizes play by turning player psychology toward the pursuit of extrinsic rewards. This is evidenced in the instrumental decision-making that accompanies competitive gameplay as well as the “survival” strategies that e-Sports players deploy to endure its precarious working environment(s). In both cases, play is treated as work and has problematic psychological and sociological implications as a result.
This article applies psychological-sociological accounts of the ‘apophatic’, a form of negative t... more This article applies psychological-sociological accounts of the ‘apophatic’, a form of negative thinking, to examples of gaming practices to conceptualise a new theory of videogame consumption. It challenges the prevailing notion that the games consumer is always a ‘cataphatic’ thinker – that is, an activistic, rational-pleasure seeker – and looks to the ‘sorrows’ of gaming to find evidence of its more undesirable nature. The term ‘apophatic’ is characterised as an attempt to de-value the rational value purportedly placed on gaming practices. ‘Griefing’ other players is a good example of this apophatic ethic, where players derive value from the subversion of serious play through the disruption and destruction of other players’ game worlds. The struggle with ‘failure’ is another. As such, the article concludes with a reflection on the almost unsayable nature of videogame consumption, and suggests that consumer value may be derived from its more negative, spiritual-like aspects.
This article repurposes Campbell’s (2005) concept of ‘the craft consumer’ to generate a new theor... more This article repurposes Campbell’s (2005) concept of ‘the craft consumer’ to generate a new theory of video game consumption, which proposes that we identify the material practices typically associated with craft labour within acts of digital play. We draw on case studies from popular and community-driven video game titles including Dark Souls and Super Mario Maker to make our argument, suggesting that a grasp of the controls initiates material practices, like repetition, which provide the groundwork for craft skill. It is from this position that we argue that consumers initiate a craft-like ‘dialogue’ (Sennett R (2008) The Craftsman. London: Yale University Press.) with the game’s design that reveals the experimental and creative nature of video game consumption. Importantly, these case studies provide evidence to meet with Campbell’s definition of ‘craft consumption’ as an (1) ‘ensemble activity’ and (2) as a ‘collection’ of handmade things. The result is a better understanding of...
The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 2014
This paper considers the role and function of Left academics within ‘elite’ (i.e. Russell Group) ... more This paper considers the role and function of Left academics within ‘elite’ (i.e. Russell Group) universities within the UK. Deploying Marxist theory and critical realism, it analyses the ‘dialectical contradictions’ experienced in such a role and reflects upon productive strategies for resisting the hegemony of neo-liberalism within those milieus
This article engages Bhaskar's category of 'absence' and Foucault's notion of the 'problematisati... more This article engages Bhaskar's category of 'absence' and Foucault's notion of the 'problematisation' in the context of explaining a historical emergence of political activism within the UK. Its contribution is at the interface of critical realism and social movement studies. The particular social movement considered is that of 'psychiatric survivors' in the form of the 'politics of self-harm'. The politics of selfharm refers to acts of self-injurious behaviour, such as drug over-dosage or selflaceration, which do not result in death and which subsequently bring individuals to the attention of psychiatric services. For many years survivors have protested about the harmful treatment ('iatrogenesis') they receive from such services and have campaigned for their reform and for new, non-psychiatric understandings of the meaning of self-harm. The article explains how such activism emerged in the late-1980s.
Forms of populism have long been a component of modern political discourse and systems where demo... more Forms of populism have long been a component of modern political discourse and systems where democracy relies upon popular legitimacy. There is, however, an uneasy relationship between some widely held views of ‘the people’ and the parties which seek to govern them. Contemporary academic and political discourse on populism often equates these views with right-wing politics, whilst some radical scholars, suggest that these views, whilst controversial, are nonetheless examples of democratic expression. Using survey evidence from 14 European countries, we show that young people take up a mixture of political positions, some of which are strongly associated with indices of populism – cynicism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia – others of which do not map neatly onto the typical ‘left-right’ spectrum. We find evidence that some young people hold contradictory, often conflicting political viewpoints, which are reflective of the historical and cultural contexts of each location rathe...
This article applies sociological theories of 'craft' to computer gaming practices to conceptuali... more This article applies sociological theories of 'craft' to computer gaming practices to conceptualise the relationship between play, games and labour. Using the example of the game Dota 2, as both a competitive esport title and a complex game based around a shared practice, this article examines the conditions under which the play of a computer game can be considered a 'craft'. In particular, through the concept of 'prehension', we dissect the gameplay activity of Dota 2, identifying similarities with how the hand practices craft labour. We identify these practices as 'contact', 'apprehension', 'language acquisition' and 'reflection'. We argue that players develop these practices of the hand to make sense of the game's rules and controls. From this perspective, it is the hand that initiates experiences of craft within computer gameplay, and we offer examples of player creativity and experimentation to evidence its labour. The article concludes with a discussion on the need for future research to examine the quality of gaming labour in the context of esports.
What concerns us here is how to best make sense of the proliferation of subjectivities under neol... more What concerns us here is how to best make sense of the proliferation of subjectivities under neoliberal circumstances in a way that recognises the role of agency without falling into the trap of voluntarism. This is what we see as the puzzle of identity in neoliberal times. As Gill (2008: 433) has pointed out, those studying neoliberalism have a rich array of conceptual tools available for minutely dissecting cultural forms and, yet, there “is very little understanding of how culture relates to subjectivity, identity or lived embodied experiences of selfhood”. Our chapter represents a modest attempt to address this gap in the literature by offering an account of social identity which draws on Margaret Archer’s (2007) work on biography and reflexivity but also incorporating Foucauldian concerns into the picture so to conceptualise the production of subjectivities in terms of the iterative unfolding of agency and power over the lifecourse. We elaborate this perspective through a brief...
The consumption of digital games has become increasingly "gamblified" (Gainsbury et al,... more The consumption of digital games has become increasingly "gamblified" (Gainsbury et al, 2015; Zanescu et al, 2020) in recent years. Due to the changes in media landscape such as the development of new forms of gambling via the Internet and mobile phones, consumers can now play games and gamble in real-time and from almost any location (Newall et al, 2019; King et al, 2010; Griffiths & Parke, 2010). The growing intersections between digital games, gambling, and consumption practices afforded by these technological changes take many forms (Albarran-Torres, 2018). Some players pursue what has become known as "skin betting", which involves wagering digital "skins" (virtual appearances) of characters either within games or on third-party websites and platforms (Greer et al, 2019); others bet on esports (competitive digital gaming) competitions in a manner comparable to traditional sports betting (Gainsbury et al, 2017); others utilise "gamblified" monetisation methods when watching and engaging with live-streamed digital game content on platforms such as Twitch.tv (Abarbanel & Johnson, 2020); while others still purchase loot boxes, the focus of many of the papers in our particular issues, which involve paying real-world money for an unpredictable set of in-game virtual items (Macey & Hamari, 2019, Nielsen & Grabarczyk, 2019). Our goal in this special issue is to begin to elucidate some of the changes in consumption patterns, both within "gaming" and "gambling", that we see heralded by these developments.
This article examines how ‘gambling’ secured a central economic and cultural position in the deve... more This article examines how ‘gambling’ secured a central economic and cultural position in the development of modern digital games. We first trace how developers have monetized ‘games’ and ‘play’, from slot machines to PC, console and mobile platforms, before considering the recent controversy over ‘loot boxes’ as an emblematic case study of the ongoing gamblification of digital play. We argue that (1) the rising costs of development and marketing for ‘blockbuster’ games, (2) an overcrowded marketplace and (3) significant shifts in the corporate culture of the games industry are creating cultural conditions which legitimize gambling as a form of digital game production and consumption. This is evidenced in developers’ capacity to innovate around legal challenges and player demand for further customization and rewards. What emerges is a question about the future direction of game development and the impact of a logic of money, rather than play, which now underwrites it.
In this paper we examine the pursuit of celebrity through the live broadcast (‘streaming’) of vid... more In this paper we examine the pursuit of celebrity through the live broadcast (‘streaming’) of video games as an expression of an emerging moral economy of contemporary digital capitalism. Live streaming is a novel form overwhelmingly found amongst young people disproportionately harmed by the economic crisis, and we propose that the contraction of employment opportunities is giving rise to a strong imperative to be seen, which finds an outlet in the practices of self-presentation, self-promotion and entrepreneurial enterprise that are central to financially-successful live streaming. We first outline relevant contemporary economic conditions, the disproportionately high prizes at the top of career paths, the attendant lures of fame and fortune, and how the politics of play have been affected by these changes. We then explore Twitch.tv (the leading game live streaming platform) as our case study, covering how streamers make themselves appealing, market themselves, profit, and how the...
In Man, Play and Games, Roger Caillois warns against the “rationalization” of play by working lif... more In Man, Play and Games, Roger Caillois warns against the “rationalization” of play by working life and argues that the professionalization of competitive games (agôn) will have a negative impact on people and society. In this article, I elaborate on Caillois’ argument by suggesting that the professional context of electronic sports (e-Sports) rationalizes play by turning player psychology toward the pursuit of extrinsic rewards. This is evidenced in the instrumental decision-making that accompanies competitive gameplay as well as the “survival” strategies that e-Sports players deploy to endure its precarious working environment(s). In both cases, play is treated as work and has problematic psychological and sociological implications as a result.
This article applies psychological-sociological accounts of the ‘apophatic’, a form of negative t... more This article applies psychological-sociological accounts of the ‘apophatic’, a form of negative thinking, to examples of gaming practices to conceptualise a new theory of videogame consumption. It challenges the prevailing notion that the games consumer is always a ‘cataphatic’ thinker – that is, an activistic, rational-pleasure seeker – and looks to the ‘sorrows’ of gaming to find evidence of its more undesirable nature. The term ‘apophatic’ is characterised as an attempt to de-value the rational value purportedly placed on gaming practices. ‘Griefing’ other players is a good example of this apophatic ethic, where players derive value from the subversion of serious play through the disruption and destruction of other players’ game worlds. The struggle with ‘failure’ is another. As such, the article concludes with a reflection on the almost unsayable nature of videogame consumption, and suggests that consumer value may be derived from its more negative, spiritual-like aspects.
This article repurposes Campbell’s (2005) concept of ‘the craft consumer’ to generate a new theor... more This article repurposes Campbell’s (2005) concept of ‘the craft consumer’ to generate a new theory of video game consumption, which proposes that we identify the material practices typically associated with craft labour within acts of digital play. We draw on case studies from popular and community-driven video game titles including Dark Souls and Super Mario Maker to make our argument, suggesting that a grasp of the controls initiates material practices, like repetition, which provide the groundwork for craft skill. It is from this position that we argue that consumers initiate a craft-like ‘dialogue’ (Sennett R (2008) The Craftsman. London: Yale University Press.) with the game’s design that reveals the experimental and creative nature of video game consumption. Importantly, these case studies provide evidence to meet with Campbell’s definition of ‘craft consumption’ as an (1) ‘ensemble activity’ and (2) as a ‘collection’ of handmade things. The result is a better understanding of...
The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 2014
This paper considers the role and function of Left academics within ‘elite’ (i.e. Russell Group) ... more This paper considers the role and function of Left academics within ‘elite’ (i.e. Russell Group) universities within the UK. Deploying Marxist theory and critical realism, it analyses the ‘dialectical contradictions’ experienced in such a role and reflects upon productive strategies for resisting the hegemony of neo-liberalism within those milieus
This article engages Bhaskar's category of 'absence' and Foucault's notion of the 'problematisati... more This article engages Bhaskar's category of 'absence' and Foucault's notion of the 'problematisation' in the context of explaining a historical emergence of political activism within the UK. Its contribution is at the interface of critical realism and social movement studies. The particular social movement considered is that of 'psychiatric survivors' in the form of the 'politics of self-harm'. The politics of selfharm refers to acts of self-injurious behaviour, such as drug over-dosage or selflaceration, which do not result in death and which subsequently bring individuals to the attention of psychiatric services. For many years survivors have protested about the harmful treatment ('iatrogenesis') they receive from such services and have campaigned for their reform and for new, non-psychiatric understandings of the meaning of self-harm. The article explains how such activism emerged in the late-1980s.
Forms of populism have long been a component of modern political discourse and systems where demo... more Forms of populism have long been a component of modern political discourse and systems where democracy relies upon popular legitimacy. There is, however, an uneasy relationship between some widely held views of ‘the people’ and the parties which seek to govern them. Contemporary academic and political discourse on populism often equates these views with right-wing politics, whilst some radical scholars, suggest that these views, whilst controversial, are nonetheless examples of democratic expression. Using survey evidence from 14 European countries, we show that young people take up a mixture of political positions, some of which are strongly associated with indices of populism – cynicism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia – others of which do not map neatly onto the typical ‘left-right’ spectrum. We find evidence that some young people hold contradictory, often conflicting political viewpoints, which are reflective of the historical and cultural contexts of each location rathe...
This article applies sociological theories of 'craft' to computer gaming practices to conceptuali... more This article applies sociological theories of 'craft' to computer gaming practices to conceptualise the relationship between play, games and labour. Using the example of the game Dota 2, as both a competitive esport title and a complex game based around a shared practice, this article examines the conditions under which the play of a computer game can be considered a 'craft'. In particular, through the concept of 'prehension', we dissect the gameplay activity of Dota 2, identifying similarities with how the hand practices craft labour. We identify these practices as 'contact', 'apprehension', 'language acquisition' and 'reflection'. We argue that players develop these practices of the hand to make sense of the game's rules and controls. From this perspective, it is the hand that initiates experiences of craft within computer gameplay, and we offer examples of player creativity and experimentation to evidence its labour. The article concludes with a discussion on the need for future research to examine the quality of gaming labour in the context of esports.
Explanations of computer game consumption have tended towards a focus on the relationship between... more Explanations of computer game consumption have tended towards a focus on the relationship between play, narrative and its context to explain consumer behaviour. The dominant narrative that underwrites these explanations is that play, through gaming, is often undertaken to escape reality and that games are consumed to help people actualise desires and fantasies that are otherwise unattainable in their everyday lives. Thus, it has been argued that games offer a variety of ‘imaginative escapes’ from routine life, such as the collection of in-game items or achievements, which are seen to provide players with a sense of ‘progress’ that is otherwise lacking from their work lives (Molesworth, 2009; Molesworth and Watkins, 2014). In this article, it will be argued that what is missing from these accounts is a discussion of what Richard Sennett (2009) calls ‘the craft of play’ - where play inaugurates the material practices of repetition, modulation, and consistency that are constitutive of craft labour. This paper intends to explore the relevance of Sennett’s thesis to a sociological analysis of gaming, and uses ethnographic research into the computer game Destiny to unpack the ways that making an online avatar might be considered an example of craft labour. The study reveals that players get great satisfaction from negotiating the relationship between pleasure and rigorous practice in Destiny and identifies that, for some, it has become a vocation that has called into question their pre-existing relationships to work and employment. The paper concludes by suggesting that gaming is not simply an escape from reality, but rather a way of understanding how reality is being re-appropriated through play as craftsmanship.
In Man, Play and Games, Roger Caillois warns against the ‘contamination’ of play by reality and a... more In Man, Play and Games, Roger Caillois warns against the ‘contamination’ of play by reality and argues that the professionalization of competitive games (agôn) will have a negative impact people and society. Examples include rivalry and cheating. Half a century on and there is evidence to suggest that the competitive gaming industry is pushing players to extreme lengths to win. Examples include match fixing, personal injury and precarious working conditions. This article defends Caillois’ sociology of games to make two important claims. First, that competitive games shape human reflexivity towards instrumental rationality. I introduce critical realism and Margaret Archer’s concept of autonomous reflexivity to help support this point. Second, I argue that we see examples of the contamination of play in cases where the competitive demands of the player meet the competitive logic of capitalism. The result is an example of alienation that compliments Caillois’ original warning.
The Problem with Prosumption: Interpassive Subjects and the Illusion of Gameplay
The purpose of ... more The Problem with Prosumption: Interpassive Subjects and the Illusion of Gameplay
The purpose of this article is to interrogate how the hybridization of producer-consumer (‘prosumer’) relations is transforming video game consumption. In particular, it reflects on the impact that ‘Let’s Play’ celebrities and the phenomenon of Internet tending topics through sites, like YouTube, are having on gameplay. Using the popular game Minecraft as a case study, the article draws on interviews to consider why the sharing and steaming of gameplay has become a cultural phenomenon. It argues that ‘prosumption’ plays an important role in this, as gamers participate in the co-creation of gaming culture(s), whether as a form of instruction or entertainment. Young people, in particular, are showing such a strong preference for this form of digital media prosumption. The article draws on Robert Pfaller and Slavoj Žižek’s concept of ‘Interpassivity’ to make sense of this and questions whether gaming is something that people should watch, rather than do. Whilst is clear that prosumption helps create gaming communities, it also gives rise to a problem: it fetishizes video and channel creators. Drawing from interviews, the article argues that digital media prosumption helps to defer the physical and intellectual pleasures of playing games onto these ‘digital effigies’. The article considers this to be the ‘problem with prosumption’: that the possibility of having an enjoyable gameplay experience and, thus, consuming the product, is now being substituted for a shift towards a delegated consumer agency or an 'Illusion of Gameplay'.
Destiny is the name of a massively multiplayer online (MMO) video game that to date has 16 millio... more Destiny is the name of a massively multiplayer online (MMO) video game that to date has 16 million registered players. Some of these players play in excess of 12-16 hours a day; completing quests, levelling their characters, and co-operating to overcome some of the game’s most difficult challenges. What makes this game so gratifying? How does it ‘fit’ into broader discussions of the contemporary consumer culture? Drawing on a six-month virtual ethnography, this paper begins to address these questions by drawing out an analysis of Destiny that is sensitive to the ways in which its interface (or design) mediates the broader social and cultural contexts of its players. In particular, it looks to the practices of game playing, and how Destiny blurs the relationship between ‘work’ and ‘play’ to offer players a masculine, embodied and affectual gameplay experience. The paper contextualises the appeal of this experience in terms of some of the uncertainties that adult men face in late modern life. In particular, it focuses on a case study of two men from Manchester for whom playing Destiny unfolds over the spatial and temporal fabric of their everyday lives, presenting a variety of relational ‘goods’ and ‘evils’ along the way.
Measures to promote higher levels of civic engagement, more broadly spread through society, may a... more Measures to promote higher levels of civic engagement, more broadly spread through society, may also help to reduce inequalities and promote higher aggregate levels of wellbeing. Uslaner and Brown (2005) suggest that high levels of trust are more likely to result in political participation and that trust is strongly influenced by economic inequality. Political, societal and civic participation varies significantly across Europe, these variations are apparent amongst young people as evidenced in the MYPLACE project (Pilkington and Pollock 2015). We employ a definition of civic engagement which encompasses, firstly, activities between citizens, such as volunteering as well as between citizens and institutions of the state (Foley and Griffiths 2011). Secondly we broaden this to include notions of trust that people have in relation to others and in relation to the institutions of the state (ONS 2014). Research by Li et al. (2008) found that that the ‘stable service class’ had greater levels of civic engagement than the upwardly mobile. They suggest an association between the formal forms of social capital in terms of civic engagement and the informal networks that can be mobilised for advantage. From this perspective, young people in already privileged positions who possess relatively more informal social capital will also be more civically engaged, and will remain so even if their less privileged peers are able to move further up the occupational ladder to join them. This paper contributes to understandings of how, for young people, inequalities in the broadest sense are associated with notions of trust and levels of participation and how these relationships are manifest in a diverse range of settings across Europe.
Populism is a misnomer. It does not accurately reflect the empirical realities that young people’... more Populism is a misnomer. It does not accurately reflect the empirical realities that young people’s political views express. This paper explores why. Using survey evidence from fourteen European counties, we show that young people taking up a contradictory mixture of political positions to respond to the lived experiences of their respective geospatial-historical locales. In other words, it is not populism that needs to be explained but how it is that populisms emerge as young people mobilise in response to local constraints. It is in exploring these constraints and how young people problematise them that we chart how it is that new ideologies emerge around the (perceived) failures of traditional party politics. This pluralistic approach still captures what is the logic of populism but parses it through the lens of the realities of young people.
How might recent developments in critical realism and relational sociology help us undertake soci... more How might recent developments in critical realism and relational sociology help us undertake sociological research? The purpose of this talk is to introduce listeners to the theoretical developments in both schools of thought and why they are complimentary, particularly for helping explain social movement activism.
What I want to talk about today is how critical realism and historical research might be used to ... more What I want to talk about today is how critical realism and historical research might be used to better understand how social movement activists resist hegemonic social groups.
To do this, I will outline a theoretical approach based on a combination of contemporary critical realism and historical sociology.
What I will argue is that a social scientific investigation of ‘causal mechanisms’, as applied to archives of activism, can help us understand the ways in which activists problematize their experiences of hegemonic discourse.
Today, I will be exploring what the diachronic analyses derived from E.P. Thompson offers Dave El... more Today, I will be exploring what the diachronic analyses derived from E.P. Thompson offers Dave Elder-Vass’ theory of norm circles.
In exploring the relationship between Thompson’s Marxist historical materialism and Elder-Vass’ contemporary critical realism, I hope to flesh out a model on which to construct casual explanations of empirical social phenomena and changes within them. Ultimately, I resolve that Thompson’s use of history - his historical materialism – and the logic he provides us with, should give us pause to think about how critical realists treat empirical material and how we employ the models we construct.
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:
Social Morphogenesis is the first volume in a series of books, edited by Margaret Archer, that se... more Social Morphogenesis is the first volume in a series of books, edited by Margaret Archer, that seeks to develop an explanatory framework that can account for how the rate of social change has 'speeded up' in the last three decades. The first volume is dedicated to an analysis of what the 'generative mechanism' is that produces such rapid change and discusses how this differs from Late Modernity. The first volume can be seen as an elaboration of Archer's Morphogenetic Project, which over the last thirty years has focused on theorising social stability and change in a way that is applicable to three levels of social analysismicro, meso and macro-and across all three elements of social transformation -structure, culture and agency. The challenge of the Morphogenetic Project has been to specify their interplay with Archer's offering a sociological interpretation of Morphostasis and Morphogenesis to help make sense of the processes that tend to either preserve or change a social system's given form or structure. The term 'social morphogenesis', then, elaborates on these previous developments and refers to the generative mechanism that Archer and 10 other contributors are interested in holding to account for the increasing rapidity of social change.
Dave Elder-Vass’ work is well known within critical realist circles. He is recognized for his con... more Dave Elder-Vass’ work is well known within critical realist circles. He is recognized for his contributions to social theory, but also for his lucid writing style, through which he communicates critical realism to non-specialist audiences. In these respects, his new book, The Reality of Social Construction, is no different. It can be considered an extension of his earlier ideas, particularly his concept of ‘norm circles’, through which the term ‘social structure’ is replaced (Elder-Vass, 2010). In his new book, ‘norm circles’ move to the centre of Elder-Vass’ social ontology and become a realist explanatory device for all social phenomena. This move is framed within the book’s prima facie concern with making realism and social constructionism compatible. Both projects are ambitious but make an important contribution to social theory, particularly to two key realist debates: the autonomy (or not) of the cultural product, and the status of truth and knowledge. This review will consider the broad implications of Elder-Vass’ new book, before focusing on these two aspects.
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Papers by Tom Brock
The purpose of this article is to interrogate how the hybridization of producer-consumer (‘prosumer’) relations is transforming video game consumption. In particular, it reflects on the impact that ‘Let’s Play’ celebrities and the phenomenon of Internet tending topics through sites, like YouTube, are having on gameplay. Using the popular game Minecraft as a case study, the article draws on interviews to consider why the sharing and steaming of gameplay has become a cultural phenomenon. It argues that ‘prosumption’ plays an important role in this, as gamers participate in the co-creation of gaming culture(s), whether as a form of instruction or entertainment. Young people, in particular, are showing such a strong preference for this form of digital media prosumption. The article draws on Robert Pfaller and Slavoj Žižek’s concept of ‘Interpassivity’ to make sense of this and questions whether gaming is something that people should watch, rather than do. Whilst is clear that prosumption helps create gaming communities, it also gives rise to a problem: it fetishizes video and channel creators. Drawing from interviews, the article argues that digital media prosumption helps to defer the physical and intellectual pleasures of playing games onto these ‘digital effigies’. The article considers this to be the ‘problem with prosumption’: that the possibility of having an enjoyable gameplay experience and, thus, consuming the product, is now being substituted for a shift towards a delegated consumer agency or an 'Illusion of Gameplay'.
To do this, I will outline a theoretical approach based on a combination of contemporary critical realism and historical sociology.
What I will argue is that a social scientific investigation of ‘causal mechanisms’, as applied to archives of activism, can help us understand the ways in which activists problematize their experiences of hegemonic discourse.
In exploring the relationship between Thompson’s Marxist historical materialism and Elder-Vass’ contemporary critical realism, I hope to flesh out a model on which to construct casual explanations of empirical social phenomena and changes within them. Ultimately, I resolve that Thompson’s use of history - his historical materialism – and the logic he provides us with, should give us pause to think about how critical realists treat empirical material and how we employ the models we construct.
with making realism and social constructionism compatible. Both projects are ambitious but make an important contribution to social theory, particularly to two key realist debates: the autonomy (or not) of the cultural product, and the status of truth and knowledge. This review will consider the broad implications of Elder-Vass’ new book, before focusing on these two aspects.