Profit and Gift in the Digital EconomyOur economy is neither overwhelmingly capitalist, as Marxist political economists argue, nor overwhelmingly a market economy, as mainstream economists assume. Both approaches ignore vast swathes of the economy, including the gift, collaborative and hybrid forms that coexist with more conventional capitalism in the new digital economy. Drawing on economic sociology, anthropology of the gift and heterodox economics, this book proposes a groundbreaking framework for analysing diverse economic systems: a political economy of practices. The framework is used to analyse Apple, Wikipedia, Google, YouTube and Facebook, showing how different complexes of appropriative practices bring about radically different economic outcomes. Innovative and topical, Profit and Gift in the Digital Economy focusses on an area of rapid social change while developing a theoretically and politically radical framework that will be of continuing long-term relevance. It will appeal to students, activists and academics in the social sciences. |
Contents
Diverse economies | 22 |
Beyond Marxist political economy | 45 |
Mainstream economics and its rivals | 71 |
Complexes of appropriative practices | 96 |
Apple | 117 |
Wikipedia | 144 |
Does Google give gifts? | 171 |
User content capitalism | 192 |
Conclusion | 216 |
| 233 | |
| 252 | |
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Common terms and phrases
accumulation actors advertising alternative analyse Andrew Sayer Apple Apple’s appropriative practices argued argument benefits Benkler capitalism capitalist capitalist businesses chapter commercial commodity economy companies competitors complexes of appropriative concept consumers consumption contribute create critique defined depends developed digital economy discourse discussed diverse economy dominant economic activity economic sociology economists economy of practices editing editors Elder-Vass ethical evaluate example exchange exploitation Facebook forms of economy Foxconn Gibson-Graham gift economy giving Google Google’s human hybrid incidental transfers innovation interaction Internet iPhone kind labour theory mainstream economics market economy Marx Marx’s Marxist Marxist tradition mode of production moral neoclassical non-capitalist normative open-source software organisation political economy possible preferential attachment profit prosumer prosumption reciprocal recognise relations revenue role Sayer search results sell sense significant society Steve Jobs strategy structures theory of value tion users videos wage labour Wikipedia workers Wright YouTube