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

Mel Stanfill mstanfill at gmail.com
Tue Dec 11 06:22:57 PST 2012


Hi all,

Reminder that the deadline for the special issue of *Transformative Works
and Cultures* on Fandom and/as Labor is coming down the pike: March 1,
2013. Or, since the composition of the list is always in flux, a first
announcement if you haven't yet seen it!

I look forward to insightful contributions from AoIRistas!

Mel Stanfill
PhD Candidate
Illinois Distinguished Fellow
Institute of Communications Research
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
http://www.melstanfill.com


Please forward widely
>
> *
> *
>
> *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*.
>



More information about the Air-L mailing list