Category:Productive Play

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Introduction

Social media, language learning apps, dating apps, mood-tracking apps, etc: the language of games repurposed in the context of data-extractivist software are just some of the examples of the blurring lines between play, leisure and labour releasing our collective dopamine for profit.
This trimester, gamification in its many forms will serve as a stepping stone to explore the many ways videogames, explicitly or implicitly, are making us more, not less, productive: predatory monetization schemes ( in-game advertising, micro-transactions, loot boxes, downloadable content, etc.), aspects of mod and fan culture, gold mining, etc.
Furthermore, according to author Vicky Osterweil, even when considered outside the direct sphere of production, videogames perform a reproductive role through the representation of capitalism as a system of natural laws through the dissemination of dominant ideologies, helping people function in an otherwise dysfunctional economy and society. Moreover, they may provide necessary down time and relaxation, allowing the worker to be regenerated and ready for another day.
Nonetheless, leisure is a contested space which is still unequally distributed. Associate professor Shira Chess proposes that feminist work must not only pay attention to leisure, but also to improving the quality of said leisure.
As such, how can we contribute to this project? Get ready to turn some of your leisure time into homework instead as we prod and poke the billion-dollar industry that always wants more.

Week 1

Tuesday, January 11th

  • Kick-off Special Issue #17

Watching:

Assignment:

Week 2

Tuesday, January 18th

With: Lidia, Manetta, Michael and Steve

  • Defining play and games
  • Blurrying the lines between labour and play: gamification and playbour
  • Getting started on a glossary of productive play

Today's pad: https://pad.xpub.nl/p/18012022

Reading:

Assignment:

Wednesday, January 19th

  • Reading, Writing and Research Methods (RW&RM) session with Steve. Ideology, Old and New

1) Today we will be looking at the development of the idea of ideology, referring to these three historical texts:

Marx and Engels (19th Century) - The ruling Class and Ruling Ideas

File:Marx & EngelsRuling ClassRuling ideas.pdf

Gramsci (early 20th Century)- The History of the Subaltern Classes

File:Antonio-Gramsci-Selections-from-the-Prison-Notebooks.pdf

Hebdidge (Late 20th Century) - Subculture: The Meaning of Style

Dick_Hebdige_-_Subculture_The_Meaning_of_Style_-Routledge_(1979).pdf

2)Reading ideology in everyday objects

Week 3

Tuesday, January 25th

With: Lidia, Manetta, Michael and Steve

  • Games as reproductive technologies: the base-superstructure model, Adorno and Horkheimer's critique of the cultural industry, Stuart Hall's deconstruction of the popular, introduction to social reproduction theory
  • "Turning players into payers" / Predatory monetization schemes: in-game advertising, micro-transactions, loot boxes, downloadable content, NFTs, etc.

Reading/Watching:

Week 4

Tuesday, February 1th

With: Lidia, Manetta, Michael and Steve

  • Modding, machinima and fan culture: ambivalence between incorporated prosumerism and tactical media
  • Individual tutorials for discussing first thoughts and ideas

Reading:

  • "Productive Play: Game Culture From the Bottom Up" by Celia Pearce vs "The Multitude and the Media" from "Games of Empire" by Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter
  • Chapter 2: "Game Modding: Cross-Over Mutation and Unwelcome Gifts" from "The Player’s Power to Change the Game" by Anne-Marie Schleiner

Public Lecture:


Wednesday, February 2nd

RW&RM Session with Steve

Week 5

Tuesday, February 8th

  • From gold farming to Gamergate and the alt-right

Reading:

  • "Smart Play: Social Stereotypes, Identity Building, and Counter Narratives of Gold Farmers in China" by Zixue Tai and Fengbin Hu in Woke Gaming (ed. Kishonna Gray and David Leonard)
  • "Steve Bannon Saw the ‘Monster Power’ of Angry Gamers While Farming Gold in World of Warcraft" https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/steve-bannon-world-of-warcraft-gold-farming.html
  • "Ctrl-Alt-Del: GamerGate as a precursor to the rise of the alt-right" by Kirstin MS Bezio

Week 6

Tuesday, February 15th

  • Videogames as a possible arena for contesting feminist leisure
  • Production mode: engage

Reading:

  • "Chapter 2: PWNing Leisure" in "Play like a Feminist", by Shira Chess
  • "Feminist game environment" by Natacha Roussel

Public Lecture:


Wednesday, February 16th

  • RW&RM with Steve

Week 7

Study Week

Week 8

Spring Holiday

Week 9

Tuesday, March 8th

  • Production mode: engage

Public Lecture:

Week 10

Tuesday, March 15th

  • Editorial support

Week 11

Tuesday, March 22th

  • Editorial support

Friday, March 25th

  • Launch!

Pages in category "Productive Play"

The following 6 pages are in this category, out of 6 total.