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Western University

Cultural labour

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Full-Text Articles in Business Administration, Management, and Operations

Understanding Video Game Developers As An Occupational Community, Johanna Weststar Apr 2015

Understanding Video Game Developers As An Occupational Community, Johanna Weststar

Management and Organizational Studies Publications

The video game industry has rapidly expanded over the last four decades; yet there is limited research about the workers who make video games. In examining these workers, this article responds to calls for renewed attention to the role of the occupation in understanding project-based workers in boundaryless careers. Specifically, this article uses secondary analysis of online sources to demonstrate that video game developers can be understood as a unique social group called an occupational community (OC). Once this classification has been made, the concept of OC can be used in future research to understand video game workers in terms …


Is The Very Notion Of "Representation" Relevant For The Regulation Game Of Video Game Developers?, Marie-Josee Legault, Johanna Weststar Oct 2010

Is The Very Notion Of "Representation" Relevant For The Regulation Game Of Video Game Developers?, Marie-Josee Legault, Johanna Weststar

Management and Organizational Studies Publications

In this paper we question whether videogame developers face a representation gap due to the lack of unionization or whether their current means of action are appropriate and sufficient protections against employment risk. To answer this question we will first sketch the working conditions of videogame developers and then describe their individual and collective means of action to face employment challenges. We will then discuss the strengths and failings of these approaches vis a vis unionization and propose potential alternatives that would be a better fit than the traditional Wagnerian model of union representation.