MEDIT Seminar: Digital Dreamers? - Investigating Working Lives of Videogame Workers
Speaker:
Anna M. Ozimek (MEDIT)
Time: May 2, 12:00
Place: M-136
Time: May 2, 12:00
Place: M-136
Abstract
The presentation investigates working lives of videogame workers in Poland and Estonia, workers positioned outside the 'core' videogame production regions - North America and Asia-Pacific. While videogames that are developed, localised and tested in Poland and Estonia are played by people all over the world, the working lives of people who contribute to their development are underexplored. These research projects investigate videogame workers' interpretations and negotiations of the risk associated with work in the videogame industry. The investigation of working in the Polish and Estonian videogame industries is not only a matter of discussing working practices and the unstable nature of employment in videogame production but also the changes in approaches to work and cultural production in the context of a post-socialist countries.
About the speaker
Anna M. Ozimek is a postdoctoral research fellow at the BFM Centre of Excellence in Media Innovation and Digital Cultures (MEDIT). Her PhD thesis at the University of Leeds explored the working lives of Polish videogame workers. Her research interests include creative labor, political economy of cultural industries, digital cultures, and videogame industries in the Central and Eastern European region.
The presentation investigates working lives of videogame workers in Poland and Estonia, workers positioned outside the 'core' videogame production regions - North America and Asia-Pacific. While videogames that are developed, localised and tested in Poland and Estonia are played by people all over the world, the working lives of people who contribute to their development are underexplored. These research projects investigate videogame workers' interpretations and negotiations of the risk associated with work in the videogame industry. The investigation of working in the Polish and Estonian videogame industries is not only a matter of discussing working practices and the unstable nature of employment in videogame production but also the changes in approaches to work and cultural production in the context of a post-socialist countries.
The presentation draws on empirical data from two research projects. Anna’s PhD project (2014-2018) about Polish videogame workers and on preliminary results from ongoing postdoctoral research project about the Estonian videogame industry (2019-2020).
About the speaker
Anna M. Ozimek is a postdoctoral research fellow at the BFM Centre of Excellence in Media Innovation and Digital Cultures (MEDIT). Her PhD thesis at the University of Leeds explored the working lives of Polish videogame workers. Her research interests include creative labor, political economy of cultural industries, digital cultures, and videogame industries in the Central and Eastern European region.