310 - Comor challenges the proponents of prosumption and claims that neo-liberal corporations have subsumed any democratic properties of prosumption
311 - cites Toffler (1980) The Third Wave - which is a futuristic view of prosumption from 1980. Toffler predicts that "property owners will produce their own goods and services for corporations through paid contractual arrangements" or some other kind of non-renumerated reciprocity. Toffler's systems, according to Comor, does not transcend capitalism, but rather alters it to operate at its highest possible level. (Disparities still exist in Toffler's future society)
Perhaps I can tie in Dyer-Witherford here? And his notion of class composition switching to a "bottom up" approach in production??
312 - Historically, the prosumer's ascent came from the collapse of Fordism in the 1970s and the rise of neo-liberalism. Where mass production of Fordists was a one-way street, prosumption/co-creation stresses experimenting and playing among consumers (within the corporation's guidelines, of course)
312 - the term co-creation Comor believes was appropriated by business interests as framing prosumption as a consumer-corporate business interest. For academics, co-creation is used to celebrate consumption and consumer choice. Comor says he uses co-creation and prosumption interchangeably.
312 - prosumption is not new, but consumers are more aware of it now. Comor uses the example of producing what people consume with sauce. They open the jar, heat the sauce, and then eat it. A form of prosumption for Comor.
313 - Marx: two primary mediations in life: private property and contracts (waged labour)
People are compelled to work to earn the monies to acquire their needs.
Prior to capitalism, workers were forced to labor (slaves) and were unfree. But capitalism now allows workers to freely enter into contracts (waged labor) where money (rather than a gun) becomes the essential medium of exchange to extract surpluses. (314) - Therefore, capitalists focus on the balance sheets rather than the human being workers. Labor becomes a tool - "concrete human relations are neglected while mediations proliferate."
314 - In this system, workers are ruled by abstractions because there are so many layers of management (Think of Undercover Boss - does he really need to dress up?)
Marx: Abstraction is "a relation, or even a thing, which then becomes a thought." (Toscano, 2008, p. 282). A "real abstraction" is something like exchange - where material goods can be concretely exchanged, but it's based on a social construction which has been historically created.
314 - "For Marx, the production process itself abstracts labor."
-labor power treated as a commodity - meaning it is used for commercial exchange value - results in the hiding from view that humans are exploited producers. When price values and commodity exchange dominate a system, the people in it are trivialized as an outcome of how "they live and interact."
314 - Comor draws on the hegemonic messages of prosumption that people are free and empowered through their participation. This is a result of "real abstraction." They are really free to post online, and share ideas... however they are abstracted from the notion that they are doing this within the capitalist system, within corporation's rules, and willingly providing exchange value.
316 - prosumers work within the hierarchy and architecture of the corporate firm
317 - Even open source codes, such as Linux, still had a central node where expansion and creativity report to in order to retain the node's dominant position
319 - alienation is a fundamental part of capitalism. Tech allows for that further separation of mental labor from manual labor by facilitating taylorism. Job tasks are "de-skilled" according to Comor because of the lack of creativity and control within the corporation's hiearchy (automatic price scanners, other instances where computers are doing the work for the employee and the employee is merely performing a repetitive and mindless action).
319 - conditions of alienation will remain mostly unchanged for workers in post-Fordist societies
319 - prosumption as real abstraction is an essential part of alienation
320 - Regardless of what is produced or for whom, "if the purpose and result of prosumer labor is the advancement of exchange values or profits, status quo relations will remain largely unchanged."
320 - But if use-value is prioritized over exchange value when it comes to prosumption, then celebrants will have an intriguing point to their argument.
320 - so why prosume?
-self-worth by marketing themselves to others, promoting/selling themselves as a commodity, building a celebrity brand now serves as role models for our culture. Get known. (think viral status)
321 - Comor concludes that prosumption cannot separate from capitalism and taylorism. It has been captured and centralized within this system. It empowers both, corporate interests and commodity-focused individuals. (attention economy, here, perhaps?)
322 - prosumers' freedoms extend only within the exisiting political-economy framework and laws. it's not manipulation or coercion - it's notoriety (attention).
Prosumption preserves the status quo. (not all prosumers are equally alienated, but even these individuals are not safe from exploitation).
Showing posts with label Comor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comor. Show all posts
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Comor (2010) Digital Prosumption and Alienation
Comor is critical of the celebrants of digital technologies
440 - Co-creation and prosumption are non-alienating activities for celebrants (which he disagrees)
441 - Marx: Self-creation - individuals producing the conditions of their own environment
However in capitalism: workers' engagement in production is more of a matter of survival than self-creation (you work to make money to suvive, rather than create something of importance for your survival).
441 - Therefore, the worker resides in a state of alienation. He does not produce to realize his own creative powers, but rather he works to produce a wage, which will then allow him to consume (proletariat). The low wage and non-ownership of anything but his labour power, allows the worker the potential to realize his alienation (p. 444)
441 - The capitalist, meanwhile, (bougeois owner) doesn't even produce, but is insulated by his capital wealth, with no need to uncover or realize his alienation. This is because he is afforded power and status by this capital (444).
442 - Under capitalism, there are two main types of alienation:
product-alienation: the products the proletariat helps to produce is not owned by the proletariat or in some cases, not even viewed in total (as in assembly line work)
process-alienation: surplus value, rather than use-value, is generated from the Fordist environment of workers
Capitalism emphasizes market value, not use-value. The work of the proletariat does not serve the direct needs of the proletariat, but rather wages earned allow them to fulfill needs.
Comor disagrees with the argument that open source software and online collaborative work resolves this alienation: Empirical evidence doesn't prove it - because in cases where this appears to be the case, there is usually less job security (p. 443) or more pervasive forms of surviellance (p. 443).
443 - Plus, another contributing factor of alienation's persistance in the digital age is due to the consistant need to generate and increase surplus value - which is more easily captured by digital technologies
444-445 - For Marx, the heart of alienation is not in any of the alienations discussed above, but rather in the production process itself - production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. This process requires capitalists to "get more for less out of people". Therefore, more "dead" labour (machines) is employed which increases the dehumanization and creative capacities of people/workers. Workers merely become tools of capital. (People are alienated from their essence, species-being this way).
446 - Neoliberals that argue that digital technologies afford people the chance to become entrepreneurs and gain wealth & status are covering up for the fact that the consumer still has to operate within the economic system's control, relying on a network that compels them to constantly improve skills on new (and expensive) teachnology, hardware, and software. Many of these hopefuls' work also contributes to promoting and branding activities.
446 - Comor uses Wikipedia as an example and claims that the site is routinely "used to promote commercial interests". Not sure I agree, unless he is referring to product and company pages - but the companies don't own these pages, they may only monitor them.
447 - Additionally, even sites that appear to be truly democratic and collaborative use targeted marketing through prosumption aids in the disclosure of personal information
447 - For Comor, alienation comes down to the realization surplus values, a core component of capitalism - where both, the wage paid worker and the user providing unpaid intellectual labor, are both exploited (for surplus value)
448 - Comor warns that disparities in the levels of hiearchy are not flattening (as celebrants argue), but actually growing wider. The worker is doing less (de-skilling) with machines (such as price scanners, simple button-pushing repetitive machines, etc). Independent thought is "neutured"
448 - "From a Marxist perspective, these developments are perfectly rational - capital, after all, is compelled to seek profits (through the realization of surplus values) by using machines (including ICTs) to manage the division of labour in all facets of the production process."
449 - Conclusion - prosumption has the ability to hire workers as creative tools for exploitation, but can also sustain the status quo of product- & process-alienation. So really, it's more flexible and profitable for the capitalists than the traditional factory scene.
450-52 - So why does this happen? 1) the prosumer appears to be in control. 2) prosumers seek a sense of self-worth by commoditizing themselves (I think applicable to attention economy) and 3) to participate in communities that focus on celebrity culture (which I think is fans, parasocial interaction), heavily marketed brands, and other apolitical or commodified activities.
453 - Final Conclusion: "digital prosumption is destined to remain part and parcel of capital's production and reproduction priorities with alienated prosumers labouring to satisfy their own possessive individualist needs."
440 - Co-creation and prosumption are non-alienating activities for celebrants (which he disagrees)
441 - Marx: Self-creation - individuals producing the conditions of their own environment
However in capitalism: workers' engagement in production is more of a matter of survival than self-creation (you work to make money to suvive, rather than create something of importance for your survival).
441 - Therefore, the worker resides in a state of alienation. He does not produce to realize his own creative powers, but rather he works to produce a wage, which will then allow him to consume (proletariat). The low wage and non-ownership of anything but his labour power, allows the worker the potential to realize his alienation (p. 444)
441 - The capitalist, meanwhile, (bougeois owner) doesn't even produce, but is insulated by his capital wealth, with no need to uncover or realize his alienation. This is because he is afforded power and status by this capital (444).
442 - Under capitalism, there are two main types of alienation:
product-alienation: the products the proletariat helps to produce is not owned by the proletariat or in some cases, not even viewed in total (as in assembly line work)
process-alienation: surplus value, rather than use-value, is generated from the Fordist environment of workers
Capitalism emphasizes market value, not use-value. The work of the proletariat does not serve the direct needs of the proletariat, but rather wages earned allow them to fulfill needs.
Comor disagrees with the argument that open source software and online collaborative work resolves this alienation: Empirical evidence doesn't prove it - because in cases where this appears to be the case, there is usually less job security (p. 443) or more pervasive forms of surviellance (p. 443).
443 - Plus, another contributing factor of alienation's persistance in the digital age is due to the consistant need to generate and increase surplus value - which is more easily captured by digital technologies
444-445 - For Marx, the heart of alienation is not in any of the alienations discussed above, but rather in the production process itself - production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. This process requires capitalists to "get more for less out of people". Therefore, more "dead" labour (machines) is employed which increases the dehumanization and creative capacities of people/workers. Workers merely become tools of capital. (People are alienated from their essence, species-being this way).
446 - Neoliberals that argue that digital technologies afford people the chance to become entrepreneurs and gain wealth & status are covering up for the fact that the consumer still has to operate within the economic system's control, relying on a network that compels them to constantly improve skills on new (and expensive) teachnology, hardware, and software. Many of these hopefuls' work also contributes to promoting and branding activities.
446 - Comor uses Wikipedia as an example and claims that the site is routinely "used to promote commercial interests". Not sure I agree, unless he is referring to product and company pages - but the companies don't own these pages, they may only monitor them.
447 - Additionally, even sites that appear to be truly democratic and collaborative use targeted marketing through prosumption aids in the disclosure of personal information
447 - For Comor, alienation comes down to the realization surplus values, a core component of capitalism - where both, the wage paid worker and the user providing unpaid intellectual labor, are both exploited (for surplus value)
448 - Comor warns that disparities in the levels of hiearchy are not flattening (as celebrants argue), but actually growing wider. The worker is doing less (de-skilling) with machines (such as price scanners, simple button-pushing repetitive machines, etc). Independent thought is "neutured"
448 - "From a Marxist perspective, these developments are perfectly rational - capital, after all, is compelled to seek profits (through the realization of surplus values) by using machines (including ICTs) to manage the division of labour in all facets of the production process."
449 - Conclusion - prosumption has the ability to hire workers as creative tools for exploitation, but can also sustain the status quo of product- & process-alienation. So really, it's more flexible and profitable for the capitalists than the traditional factory scene.
450-52 - So why does this happen? 1) the prosumer appears to be in control. 2) prosumers seek a sense of self-worth by commoditizing themselves (I think applicable to attention economy) and 3) to participate in communities that focus on celebrity culture (which I think is fans, parasocial interaction), heavily marketed brands, and other apolitical or commodified activities.
453 - Final Conclusion: "digital prosumption is destined to remain part and parcel of capital's production and reproduction priorities with alienated prosumers labouring to satisfy their own possessive individualist needs."
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