[Air-L] March 1 Deadline: Fandom and/as Labor

[Mel Stanfill]

Hi all,

Here is one final reminder on the call for papers for the upcoming special
issue of *Transformative Works and Cultures* on Fandom and/as Labor.
Submissions are due March 1, 2013, or in two weeks.

Thanks

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*.
>>
>