Is it possible (or advisable) to separate leisure from work today?

1. Is it possible (or advisable) to separate leisure from work today? Should leisure always be useful, and work playful? Discuss with examples.

2. What is leisure? • “The distinction between leisure and unavoidable activities is loosely applied, i.e. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as long-term utility”. (Goodin et al. 2005: 43 – 70) • “[…] criticism of consumer capitalism by Situationist International maintains that free time is illusory and rarely free; economic and social forces appropriate free time from the individual and sell It back to them as the commodity known as “leisure””. (Situationist International #9 1964)

3. Situationist International • The Situationist International (SI) was a group founded in 1957. • It consisted of a restricted group of international revolutionaries. • Having ideas that were extremely Marxist, they encouraged experiences of life being alternative to those admitted by the capitalist order, for the fulfillment of human primitive desires and the pursuing of a superior passional quality.

4. “The most superficial and constantly reiterated platitude of leftish sociologists during recent years is that leisure has become a major factor in advanced capitalist society”. (Internationale Situationniste #4 1960)

5. What is Work? • Dictionary definition states that work is “[to] exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity”. • Capitalism determines “work” as something that is supplied by “owners” and demanded by “non-owners” to a great degree. • Marxists oppose capitalist employment system, considering it to be unfair that the people who contribute the majority of work to an organisation, regardless of their level of financial risk, do not receive a proportionate share of the profit and that full employment is rarely reached under capitalism.

6. “The capitalist system suggest that success is unlimited or directly proportional to how such an individual wants to work at it, while opponents of communism suggest that imposing value takes away the motivation for someone to be better at their job that the next guy who isn’t working as hard but the value in what they do is fixed regardless of performance.”

7. Work vs. Leisure • The dictionary definition of leisure is “time available for ease and relaxation” • From this perspective you wouldn’t really combine work and leisure together as work is seen as a strenuous activity, something that one has to do whereas leisure is time spent relaxing – away from work. • “This draw attention to the fact that in the entertainment industries, the relationship between work and play are changing, leading, as it were, to a hybrid form of “playbour””. (The Fibreculture Journal 2003)

8. Julian Kücklich • Kücklich, a video game theorist, first coined the term playbour. • In an article for The Fibreculture Journal, Kücklich writes about playbour within the digital games industry • He mentions that the problem is that modder’s leisure is being commodified by the games industry • “While the commercialisation of leisure is hardly a new phenomenon – for example, Fulcher notes that ‘[l]eisure was […] the creation of capitalism […], through the commercialization of leisure’ (Fulcher, 2004: 8) – it seems a radical departure from […] leisure industries that the games industry not only sells entertainment products, but also capitalises on the products of the leisure derived from them.” (The Fibreculture Journal 2003)

9. “A transformative work takes something extant and turns it into something with a new purpose, sensibility, or mode of expression”. (Organization of Transformative Works) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5F-6qf48EY

10. Seperating Work from Leisure • Perhaps it is too late to separate work from leisure • As the previous video mentions, game modders may be being exploited by the gaming industry • Linden Lab, the creator of the MMORPG Second Life, have allowed users to do whatever they want within the game, BUT in order to buy new content, etc. they can exchange real money for ‘Linden dollars (L$)’. • This suggests that despite users using Second Life as a means of leisure they are in fact working as well.

11. Real money in an unreal online world • A gamer, going by the name Anshe, is said to be earning $150,000 dollars per year, from the game Second Life, - in real hard cash • She has many schemes, from buying land from Linden Lab, editing it in Photoshop and selling it to other gamers within the game for $100 for one-acre plot and $20 a month in land tax. • This is a prime example of leisure that has now become work

12. YouTube Partner Program • People who create videos and have their content be watched by thousands of YouTube viewers • They will then qualify to share in the revenue generated when they watch their videos • Essentially, users are creating videos for YouTube and are being paid for creating them in a way • This is a another example of leisure that is slowly turning into work

13. Dead Labour • We think that one cannot separate work from leisure • With ‘Generation C’ coming more in the digital age, it is becoming much harder to separate work from leisure • For example, Facebook allows users to upload videos, post status, and comments but essentially this is working because it allows Facebook to be what it is • Without the users, Facebook wouldn’t have any advertisements, etc. and wouldn’t make any money

14. Pierre Bordieu • He is French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher • His work emphasised the role of practice and embodiment or forms in social dynamics and worldview construction, often in dialogue and opposition to universalised Western philosophical tradition. • “Dominant cultures dictate what is ‘tasteful’ and what is not”. • Essentially, capitalism controls what is leisure because they sell things that people use to have leisure and therefore creating profit.

15. Conclusion In looking into what defines work and leisure, we believe that you cannot separate the two People may think that they can divide work and leisure but essentially when doing things for leisure they may be actually working without knowing