Description
Book SynopsisOvercoming the Exploitation of Passion in Videogame Labor: Passion Play examines the intersection of passion, precarity, and collocation to pinpoint where and how interventions can be made towards better working conditions. Jackson contends that videogames and passion are inextricably linked and explores this intrinsic link where passion is expected and valorized, be it in the context of play, work, or culture. Passion, Jackson argues, is the connective tissue that sews together the shared experiences that people all over the world will undertake through videogames, including that’s winning close matches, experiencing new worlds, and forging new friendships. This book interrogates the outcomes of when labour, videogames, and passion collide – work and play become inextricably linked, and suddenly a ‘passion for games’ becomes an insistent and expected ‘passion for work.’ This, Jackson ultimately posits, leads to the current reality of much of the videogame production industry, where passion is used as a workplace policing tool and a way to push workers to periods of extended work, or crunch periods. Through theorizations regarding passion, bodies, assembly, and assemblage, this text wrestles with what can be done to manifest real change in the videogame industry. Scholars of media studies, technology, and labour studies will find this book of particular interest.
Table of ContentsTable of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions
Chapter 1: Multifaceted Manifestations: Cruel Optimistic Attachment
Chapter 2: Systematics of Precarity: Or, how the capitalist socius ascribes value to precarity
Chapter 3: Towards a Theorization of Precarities
Chapter 4: The Processual Assemblage and Utopics: Getting to the Good Stuff
Chapter 5: Ontoethical Praxis
Conclusion: It’s All Over but the Crying
Bibliography
About the Author
