An economy of words : precarity, solidarity and innovation in digital book publishing
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Contrary to conventional wisdom, which predicted a massive "creative apocalypse" and increasing "precarity" for cultural workers following the digital disruption of media (Johnson, 2015), this dissertation shows that romance writers, unlike many other creators, have seen an increase in both autonomy and economic security under digital conditions. Through an income survey of 4,200 romance authors, I show that these authors became more economically secure after the rise of e-books, while income for authors in all other book genres declined. Drawing on interviews and participant-observation, I show that starting in the 1980s, romance authors responded to widespread industry sexism with feminist social tactics that, paradoxically, gave them an advantage over other writers after the rise of e-books. Specifically, these authors—who were outsiders in the highly elite book industry—developed a very different type of professional network than most writers. This "open-elite" network, a type of network that has been associated with innovation at specific times and places across history (John F Padgett, 2010; Powell & Owen-Smith, 2012; Stone & Stone, 1986), accelerated innovation after the digital disruption of the publishing industry. These findings contribute to debates on the future of entrepreneurial labor in the so-called "gig economy" and the underrepresentation of particular voices in public discourse. First, contrary to both scholarly and media assumptions, this work shows that increased precarity is not inevitable for media workers under digital conditions. Rather, I show that new forms of solidarity can accelerate innovation and improve working life. Second, my research shows that certain social and technological configurations can amplify the voices of some creators. While the networked public sphere has not proven an inherently more democratic domain, as some scholars hoped, my work suggests that social tactics can expand opportunities for marginalized voices.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2017 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Larson, Christine |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Communication. |
| Primary advisor | Turner, Fred |
| Thesis advisor | Turner, Fred |
| Thesis advisor | Glasser, Theodore L |
| Thesis advisor | Hamilton, James |
| Thesis advisor | Powell, Walter W |
| Advisor | Glasser, Theodore L |
| Advisor | Hamilton, James |
| Advisor | Powell, Walter W |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Christine Larson. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Communication. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2017. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2017 by Christine Larson
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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