[Air-L] Fwd: Call for Papers: Fandom and/as Labor

[Mel Stanfill]

Please forward widely

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*Fandom and/as Labor*



Call for papers



Special issue of *Transformative Works and Cultures* (
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/), March 2014



Edited by Mel Stanfill and Megan Condis (University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign)



CFP online:
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/announcement/view/21
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/announcement/view/21


It has long been recognized both within academia and in the various
communities organized around fandom that the practice of being a fan does
not merely consist of passive consumption. Rather, fans are also productive:
they generate interpretations of their favorite television shows,
extratextual products like fan fiction and fan videos, and data about their
own consumption habits and those of their peers that will be used to market
new products. Whether labors of love or value extracted from unaware fans,
this productivity is rarely conceptualized as labor.



Given recent events like the 2011 Wisconsin labor protests, however, broader
questions of labor and fair compensation have been reinvigorated, such that
taking these productive fan activities seriously as labor seems to be
particularly vital in the current moment.


In this special issue on Fandom and/as Labor, we invite contributions that
ask after how labor relates to fandom, how labor happens in fandom, and what
happens when we reconceptualize fandom as labor.

We welcome submissions dealing with, but not limited to, the following
topics:

   - Case studies of how fans negotiate/conceptualize the labors that they
   perform.
   - Analyses of the ways in which popular texts present/narrate the labor
   involved in participating in fandom.
   - Examinations of how fan labor is gendered, raced, classed, and/or
   related to sexuality, ability, and nation.
   - Analysis of the monetization of existing fan labor and/or the
   production of profitable new types of fan labor.
   - Theoretical or experiential accounts of the tension between freely
   given fan labor or the fan gift economy and exploitation through the
   extraction of surplus value.

*Submission guidelines*

TWC accommodates academic articles of varying scope as well as other forms
that embrace the technical possibilities of the Web and test the limits of
the genre of academic writing. Contributors are encouraged to include
embedded links, images, and videos in their articles or to propose
submissions in alternative formats that might comprise interviews,
collaborations, or video/multimedia works. We are also seeking reviews of
relevant books, events, courses, platforms, or projects.

*Theory:* Often interdisciplinary essays with a conceptual focus and a
theoretical frame that offer expansive interventions in the field. Blinded
peer review. Length: 5,000–8,000 words plus a 100–250-word abstract.

*Praxis:* Analyses of particular cases that may apply a specific theory or
framework to an artifact; explicate fan practice or formations; or perform a
detailed reading of a text. Blinded peer review. Length: 4,000–7,000 words
plus a 100–250-word abstract.

*Symposium:* Short pieces that provide insight into current developments and
debates. Nonblinded editorial review. Length: 1,500–2,500 words.

Submissions are accepted online only. Please visit TWC's Web site (
http://journal.transformativeworks.org/) for complete submission guidelines,
or e-mail the TWC Editor (editor AT transformativeworks.org).

*Contact*

We encourage potential contributors to contact the guest editor with
inquiries or proposals: *Mel Stanfill **and Megan Condis* (fandom.labor AT
gmail.com)

*Due dates*
Contributions for blinded peer review (Theory and Praxis essays) are due by
*March 1, 2013*.**

Contributions that undergo editorial review (Symposium, Interview, Review)
are due by *April 1, 2013*.



Mel Stanfill
PhD Candidate
Teaching Assistant
Institute of Communications Research
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
https://sites.google.com/site/melstanfill/home