’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural Work
In the cultural industries, workers surrender themselves to ultra-intensive work patterns in order to be recognised as properly creative subjects. In its more affirmative versions, there is a recurrent idea that captures that special moment of crea-tive synthesis between the ever-striving worker and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Linköping University Electronic Press
2014-02-01
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| Series: | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.ep.liu.se/test3212/index.php/CU/article/view/2072 |
| _version_ | 1818871983920644096 |
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| author | Mark Banks |
| author_facet | Mark Banks |
| author_sort | Mark Banks |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the cultural industries, workers surrender themselves to ultra-intensive work patterns in order to be recognised as properly creative subjects. In its more affirmative versions, there is a recurrent idea that captures that special moment of crea-tive synthesis between the ever-striving worker and the work – the moment of ’being in the zone’. Being in the zone (hereafter BITZ) describes the ideal fusion of the intensively productive mind and the labouring body. But what precisely is this ’zone’, and what is its’ potential? As part of a wider project examining exemplary and intensified subjectivity, in this article I examine BITZ from different perspectives. The main aim is to contrast affirmative readings of BITZ (mostly derived from ’positive’ social psychology) with other, more critical perspectives that would seek to politicise the conditions of its emergence and examine its range of social effects. The overall aim of the article is therefore to suggest the kinds of social and cultural frameworks that might facilitate exploration of the political potential of BITZ in different kinds of empirical context. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T12:31:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fb031ad927484fa6890fb8909b2c2ccc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2000-1525 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T12:31:35Z |
| publishDate | 2014-02-01 |
| publisher | Linköping University Electronic Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-fb031ad927484fa6890fb8909b2c2ccc2022-12-21T20:21:23ZengLinköping University Electronic PressCulture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research2000-15252014-02-0161’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural WorkMark Banks0 Sociology, The Open University, UK In the cultural industries, workers surrender themselves to ultra-intensive work patterns in order to be recognised as properly creative subjects. In its more affirmative versions, there is a recurrent idea that captures that special moment of crea-tive synthesis between the ever-striving worker and the work – the moment of ’being in the zone’. Being in the zone (hereafter BITZ) describes the ideal fusion of the intensively productive mind and the labouring body. But what precisely is this ’zone’, and what is its’ potential? As part of a wider project examining exemplary and intensified subjectivity, in this article I examine BITZ from different perspectives. The main aim is to contrast affirmative readings of BITZ (mostly derived from ’positive’ social psychology) with other, more critical perspectives that would seek to politicise the conditions of its emergence and examine its range of social effects. The overall aim of the article is therefore to suggest the kinds of social and cultural frameworks that might facilitate exploration of the political potential of BITZ in different kinds of empirical context.https://journal.ep.liu.se/test3212/index.php/CU/article/view/2072Being-in-the zoneflowworksubjectivitycultural industriespolitics |
| spellingShingle | Mark Banks ’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural Work Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research Being-in-the zone flow work subjectivity cultural industries politics |
| title | ’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural Work |
| title_full | ’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural Work |
| title_fullStr | ’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural Work |
| title_full_unstemmed | ’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural Work |
| title_short | ’Being in the Zone’ of Cultural Work |
| title_sort | being in the zone of cultural work |
| topic | Being-in-the zone flow work subjectivity cultural industries politics |
| url | https://journal.ep.liu.se/test3212/index.php/CU/article/view/2072 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT markbanks beinginthezoneofculturalwork |