political economy of communication: the problem of labor
DESCRIPTION
Political economy of communication: The problem of labor. com 327 january 30, 2014. QUIZ!!!. 1. “the process of turning a story that friends enjoy into a film or a novel to be sold in the marketplace” is an example of what ? - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Political economy of communication:The problem of labor
com 327january 30, 2014
![Page 2: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
QUIZ!!!
![Page 3: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
1. “the process of turning a story that friends enjoy into a film or a novel to be sold in the marketplace” is an example of what?
a) Marxismb) cultural imperialismc) commodificationd) history repeating itself
![Page 4: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
2. “Responding to this first wave of political economy thinking, ____________ shifted the debate by critically examining the dynamic forces within capitalism and the relationship between capitalism and other forms of political economic organization.”
a) Obamab) Justin Bieber’s dadc) Karl Marxd) James Carey
![Page 5: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
3. “a great deal of the [political economic] research in North America has been driven more explicitly by a sense of injustice that the _____________industry has become an integral part of a wider corporate order which is both exploitative and undemocratic.”
a) automotiveb) communicationc) huntingd) publishing
![Page 6: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
4. Which major retailer does Mosco mention as “one of the world’s largest corporations, is noted for its aggressive use of information technology”?
a) Big Joe’s Spatula Emporiumb) K-Martc) Foot Lockerd) Wal-Mart
![Page 7: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
BONUS.
Which of the following is an example of “horizontal integration”, as defined by Mosco?
a) putting two smaller beds together into a huge bedb) Google buying Nest, a thermostat makerc) the 2009 government bailoutd) Lego
![Page 8: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
1. Defining & historicizing “labor”
2. Material vs immaterial labor
3. Neo-liberalism and the “knowledge economy”
4. Group work: everyday commodities & labor issues
![Page 9: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Mosco’s definition of political economy:
“political economy is the study of the social relations, particularly the power relations, that mutually constitute the production, distribution, and consumption of resources, including communication resources”
Classic definition of “economy”“The science of scarcity”: the management & distribution of limited resources
“the study of control and survival in social life.”
What happens when we add considerations of “power” to this definition?What kinds of questions do we ask?
![Page 10: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
What is “labor”?
![Page 11: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
Mosco, p. 13“According to Braverman, general labor is constituted out of the unity of conception, the power to envision, imagine, and design work, and execution, the power to carry it out.”
‘Classic’ view of labor as working to bring something into being
![Page 12: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
‘Neo-classical’ view of labor splits planning / conceiving from executing / producing
“In the process of commodification, capital acts to separate conception from execution, skill from the raw ability to carry out a task, and to concentrate conceptual power in a managerial class that is either a part of capital or represents its interests. “
![Page 13: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
‘Neo-classical’ view of labor splits planning / conceiving from executing / producing
This split usually happens according to “systems of differentiation” (Foucault)
• Global north vs south• Educated vs uneducated• Men vs women• White vs everyone else
![Page 14: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
“Economics” (without the “political”):Workers become interchangeable parts of a money-making machine
“deskilling”
“alienation”
“According to this view, labor, along with land and capital, is valued solely for its productivity, or the ability to enhance the market value of a final product... Whether human or non-human, organic or inorganic, matter is assessed to the extent that it can be used productively to create wealth. Whereas political economy was founded on the idea that power is central to society, economics largely ignored it”
![Page 15: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
conventional (material) laborThe production of durable material goods:
• Farming• Manufacturing• Construction• Transportation (dockworkers, truck drivers, railroad workers)
Meatpacking Ford factory
![Page 16: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
“immaterial” labor:
“labor that produces the informational and cultural content of the commodity” (Lazzarato, 1996)
- Audiovisual production- Advertising- Software production- Photography- Public relations- Service industry- “Knowledge” or “information” economy
![Page 17: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Material or immaterial?
![Page 18: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Material or immaterial?
![Page 19: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
Material or immaterial?
![Page 20: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
Material or immaterial?
![Page 21: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Material or immaterial?
![Page 22: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Material or immaterial?
YOUR JOB?
![Page 23: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
“invisible labor” “How ironic that the measure we call gross domestic product excludes the value of most domestic work. Services don’t count unless they are explicitly exchanged for money.”Nancy Folbre, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/
![Page 24: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
(classic) material labor immaterial labor
Unions / trade associations Worker vs worker
Salaries Hourly rates
Blue collar White collar
Years-long contracts Weekly / monthly contracts
Regional or local competition Global competition
9 to 5 Evenings & weekends
immaterial labor is also referred to as “precarious” labor (Fudge & Owens, 2006)
![Page 25: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
What happened to material labor in North America?
Neoliberalism & globalization
![Page 26: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
“Rust belt” – abandoned auto factory in Detroit
Neoliberalism:Mosco (p. 5).“the market as the universal and most natural of institutions”… “all other ways of organizing social life are seen as institutional alternatives that serve only to shore up the market on those occasions when it is deficient in meeting social goals”
- the logic of the market ($$) should dictate all other social institutions, from education to employment to health care to government
• Organized labor stops corporations from making as much $$
• Technological deskilling makes $$-making more efficient
• Lax labor laws make labor cheaper
![Page 27: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
![Page 28: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
Samsung Galaxy Tablet
My Little Pony (toy)
Urban Outfitters
iPod
EA Sports
![Page 29: Political economy of communication: The problem of labor](https://reader036.vdocument.in/reader036/viewer/2022062305/5681677f550346895ddc87a4/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Groups of 4
In Powerpoint or Word; email when done
1. Who makes this?2. Who is it targeted to (pictures/links to ads)?3. Who/what owns this?4. What else do they own? 5. Where are their “head offices” located? Where is
their production located?6. What labor-related issues / stories / scandals has
this company been linked to in the past few years (pictures/links)?