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Stocksy United: A case study of co-operation in the cultural industries

Resource type
Thesis type
(Thesis) M.A.
Date created
2020-01-24
Authors/Contributors
Author (aut): Grayer, Seamus
Abstract
This thesis examines Stocksy United, a stock photography platform co-operative, as a case study of worker resistance and self-organization in the cultural industries. Drawing on interviews with 12 Stocksy United members, it explores the meanings the co-operative’s artists assign to their work in order to better understand the possibilities of co-operation for a cultural workforce. I argue that Stocksy United represents a significant example of how the co-operative model offers an alternative for precarious workers in the cultural industries, affording them community, autonomy, and fairness on the job. However, it is also a model that illustrates the ambivalences of co-operatives, including a tendency for the degeneration of the co-operative ethic, tensions around participation and gender, and the reproduction of capitalist logics. It concludes by arguing that co-operatives are a valuable yet insufficient answer to the challenges faced by precarious cultural workers.
Document
Identifier
etd20729
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Permissions
This thesis may be printed or downloaded for non-commercial research and scholarly purposes.
Scholarly level
Supervisor or Senior Supervisor
Thesis advisor (ths): Brophy, Enda
Member of collection
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