Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital Labour
This article draws on the argument that users on corporate social media conduct labour through the sharing of user-generated content. Critical political economists argue that such acts contribute to value creation on social media and are therefore to be seen as labour. Following a brief introduction...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cogitatio
2018-09-01
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| Series: | Media and Communication |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1424 |
| _version_ | 1818493087665618944 |
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| author | Jacob Johanssen |
| author_facet | Jacob Johanssen |
| author_sort | Jacob Johanssen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article draws on the argument that users on corporate social media conduct labour through the sharing of user-generated content. Critical political economists argue that such acts contribute to value creation on social media and are therefore to be seen as labour. Following a brief introduction of this paradigm, I relate it to the notion of affective labour which has been popularised by the Marxist thinkers Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. To them, affective labour (as a sub-category of immaterial labour) denotes embodied forms of labour that are about passion, well-being, feelings of ease, immaterial products and generally a kind of communicative relationality between individuals. I point to some problems with a lack of clarity in their conceptualisation of affective labour and argue that the Freudian model of affect can help in theorising affective labour further through a focus on social media. According to Freud, affect can be understood as a subjective, bodily experience which is in tension with the discursive and denotes a momentary feeling of bodily dispossession. In order to illustrate those points, I draw on some data from a research project which featured interviews with social media users who have facial disfigurements about their affective experiences online. The narratives attempt to turn embodied experiences into discourse. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:50:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aad75175bf1e4f28b82e994ba71c87b0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T17:50:38Z |
| publishDate | 2018-09-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-aad75175bf1e4f28b82e994ba71c87b02022-12-22T01:39:04ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392018-09-0163222910.17645/mac.v6i3.1424803Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital LabourJacob Johanssen0Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), Faculty of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster, UKThis article draws on the argument that users on corporate social media conduct labour through the sharing of user-generated content. Critical political economists argue that such acts contribute to value creation on social media and are therefore to be seen as labour. Following a brief introduction of this paradigm, I relate it to the notion of affective labour which has been popularised by the Marxist thinkers Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. To them, affective labour (as a sub-category of immaterial labour) denotes embodied forms of labour that are about passion, well-being, feelings of ease, immaterial products and generally a kind of communicative relationality between individuals. I point to some problems with a lack of clarity in their conceptualisation of affective labour and argue that the Freudian model of affect can help in theorising affective labour further through a focus on social media. According to Freud, affect can be understood as a subjective, bodily experience which is in tension with the discursive and denotes a momentary feeling of bodily dispossession. In order to illustrate those points, I draw on some data from a research project which featured interviews with social media users who have facial disfigurements about their affective experiences online. The narratives attempt to turn embodied experiences into discourse.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1424affective labourdigital labourpsychoanalysissocial media |
| spellingShingle | Jacob Johanssen Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital Labour Media and Communication affective labour digital labour psychoanalysis social media |
| title | Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital Labour |
| title_full | Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital Labour |
| title_fullStr | Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital Labour |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital Labour |
| title_short | Towards a Psychoanalytic Concept of Affective-Digital Labour |
| title_sort | towards a psychoanalytic concept of affective digital labour |
| topic | affective labour digital labour psychoanalysis social media |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1424 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jacobjohanssen towardsapsychoanalyticconceptofaffectivedigitallabour |