Creative labour in Shanghai: Questions on politics, composition and ambivalence

Anja Kanngieser

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article introduces and opens discussion on some of the conditions
and ambivalences encountered by the rising creative workforce in Shanghai, through engagement with theories of immaterial labour. Drawing from conversations with several Chinese creative workers, the text aims to provoke thought on the potential for political organisation and resistance within fractalised creative sectors mobilised by high levels of innovation, entrepreneurialism, competition and aspiration. By focusing on processes of subjectivation and desire, it calls for considerations of what might constitute political registers in the Shanghainese creative fields.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)54–74
Number of pages20
JournalSubjectivity
Volume5
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2012

Keywords

  • creative labour; subjectivation; Bifo Berardi; Shanghai; young workers

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