Deuze’s reading “Liquid Life” really made me think about where this exponential increase of digital media and communication technology consumption is taking us. I can see his point about the convergence of work and leisure in that most people use the same technology for both, but I personally can’t see it going further than that. My current leisure time is nothing like Deuze describes. I do like his idea about the “boundaryless career” (2006 pg7) though. I like that people are diverting away from the “one career for life” mindset and spreading themselves over different areas of expertise. I for one can’t do the same thing for a long period of time without losing my mind. Deuze referred to Jeremy Rifkin when describing the rapidly changing “runaway world” and the possibility of the of work all together (2006 pg 4). The idea of the “end of work” stood out in my mind so I had to look into it. I found his book “The End of Work”, didn’t want to buy it, so just got the jist. In 1995, Rifkin contended that worldwide unemployment would increase as information technology eliminates tens of millions of jobs in the manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors. Only a small number of elite corporate managers and knowledge workers will reap the benefits of the high-tech world economy. If this is to be true, I’m glad to be studying what I’m studying.
References
Deuze, M. 'Liquid Life, Convergence Culture, and Media Work'. [URL: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/3343/Liquid%20Life%20Deuze%202006.pdf]
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ReplyDeleteIt’s interesting to see how our career patterns and choices have changed thanks to the new technologies that have been created. I also agree with you in saying that I can’t see work and leisure ever becoming one. Sure we use the same technologies for both but this does not mean that what we do for fun say on our computers will become a job, or that if we use our computer to do for a job it will be affected by the fact that we also use this computer to socialise on online platforms. I think in general, humans have the capacity to keep their work life out of their leisure and personal life and vice versa ( or maybe I’m only speaking for myself here…) I also don’t think that the creation of such technology is creating further unemployment, rather it is just changing the style of jobs that are more available. With the invention of these technologies new job types and positions are being created everyday.
ReplyDeleteI too like the idea of a boundryless career, i like to think that the idea of "renaissance man" still means something. Maybe not an inventor/painter/writer, but to not be so absorbed in one aspect that you can't really get out and do anything else. I don't think i could work at the same job for 25 years. I want to reinvent my job and i too am happy to be studying this field. At least we know. good post
ReplyDeleteI don't quite see the incorporation of work and leisure time to be the norm either, but I do see a bleeding between the edges of the two. I believe that in some creative positions the traditional 9-5 working day is disappearing, replaced by workers who's daily experiences add to their creativity and thus their ideas and output.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally I must agree with Sarah's comment in regards to the creation of new jobs. Most of my employment has been in the information sector; jobs that would not have existed 10 or 20 years ago.
I agree with you that just because we use the same technologies for work and leisure does not mean we will be working all the time. I think this argument is based on a moral panic, often heard when some kind of change takes place in society, i.e. here, the 'dangers' of technology making us all work at the dinner table, on family holidays or Sunday mornings. Really, it is not the technology but how we choose to use it.
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