The Refusal of Work as Demand and Perspective

Weeks, Kathi

doi:10.2307/j.ctt18dzt4g.9

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…In (creative) business circles this is sometimes called 'the merge' -replacing older notions of 'work-life balance'. Autonomous Marxist theorists have written about this in terms of all of life becoming a 'social factory' (Tronti, 1966 see also Lazzarato, 1996;Hardt & Negri, 2004;Weeks, 2005).…”

Section: Working (In) Culture: Informality Precariousness and The Bumentioning

confidence: 99%

Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Gill¹

2013

Journal of Cultural Economy

168

150

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. Permanent repository link AbstractThe aim of this paper is to locate academics within the sights of critical labour studies, and, in particular, the contemporary interest in cultural workers. Despite a growing literature about -and in response to -the transformation of the University there have been few attempts to study academics as workers. This paper argues that there are a number of parallels between academic work and the much more well-documented experiences of work in the cultural and creative industries. The paper examines the increasing experience of precariousness among academics, the intensification and extensification of work, and the new modes of surveillance in the academy and their affective impacts. The aim of the article is to build on the critical lexicon of studies of cultural labour in order to think about academic work as labour and to generate new ways of thinking about power, privilege and exploitation. It argues for the need for a psychosocial perspective that can understand the new labouring subjectivities in academia.

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Section: Working (In) Culture: Informality Precariousness and The Bumentioning

confidence: 99%

Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Gill¹

2013

Journal of Cultural Economy

168

150

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“…The affordances offered by smart phones and other mobile devices quickly went from representing the possibility of connection/availability to producing a work of subjectivity in which this was normatively demanded, as all of life becomes a 'social factory' (Tronti, 1966;Hardt & Negri, 2004;Weeks, 2005;Morini, 2007). Notions of a 'separation of spheres' (e.g.…”

Section: Against This In What Angelamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In utopian and policy writing they are figured as central to economic growth, urban regeneration and social cohesion and inclusion (Florida, 2002;Hartley, 2005), whilst also seen as offering meaningful self actualising work -albeit 'on the cheap' (see Ross, 2009;Banks & Hesmondhalgh, 2009). In critical accounts, they are positioned as exemplars of a rapprochement between art and commerce, a move to a thoroughly 'cultural economy' (du Gay & Pryke, 2002;Amin & Thrift, 2004), as immaterial labourers par excellence (Lazzarato, 1996;Hardt & Negri, 2004;Weeks, 2005), and forerunners of a 'Brave New World of work' (Beck, 2000).…”

Section: Working In the Cultural And Creative Industries: New Labourimentioning

confidence: 99%

Unspeakable Inequalities: Post Feminism, Entrepreneurial Subjectivity, and the Repudiation of Sexism among Cultural Workers

Gill

2014

Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & S

212

262

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Work in the cultural and creative fields is marked by stark and growing inequalities relating to gender, class and race/ethnicity. Yet the same fields are also characterised by an ethos that celebrates openness, egalitarianism and meritocracy. This paper explores this paradox, focusing in particular on gender inequalities. It argues that there is a need to move beyond the standard conventional explanations for women's underrepresentation within the creative workforce, which point to female childbearing and childcare as central. Whilst not disputing the significance of motherhood to women's career trajectories, the paper suggests that the repeated focus on maternity is problematic, and may close down other areas of potential investigation and critique.The paper suggests that three alternative foci would repay attention in understanding inequalities in the cultural and creative industries (CCI). First, the new, mobile, subtle and revitalised forms of sexism in circulation urgently require further examination. Secondly, the power of the dominant postfeminist sensibility which, in suggesting that 'all the battles have been won', renders inequality increasingly difficult to voice or speak about, demands critique. And thirdly, the new forms of labouring subjectivity required to survive in the field of cultural work may themselves be contributing to the inequalities in the field, by favouring an entrepreneurial individualistic mode that disavows structural power relations. These three aspects of life in the field of cultural work merit further attention, and suggest that gender inequality has a variety of different causes, not all located in women's childbearing abilities. Moreover, the paper argues that the very myth of egalitarianism at work in the CCI may itself be a key mechanism through which inequality is reproduced.

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“…How do we remake this relationship? The Italian autonomists call for outright Brefusal^ (Weeks 2005). Our Union tells us to Bwork to contract.^Our occupational health and counselling departments exhort us to become Bresilient.^Our blogosphere endorses a kind of Breluctant individualism.^Our selfhelp books and apps suggest mindfulness training and self-care.…”

Section: Love and Vocationmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Would Les Back Do? If Generosity Could Save Us

Gill

2017

Int J Polit Cult Soc

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The Refusal of Work as Demand and Perspective

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Academics, Cultural Workers and Critical Labour Studies

Unspeakable Inequalities: Post Feminism, Entrepreneurial Subjectivity, and the Repudiation of Sexism among Cultural Workers

What Would Les Back Do? If Generosity Could Save Us

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