Social Networks and Production of Culture in a Global Environment
Baltzis, Alexandros
Paper at the 9th Conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA): "European Society or European Societies?"
European Sociological Association (ESA) - Research Network for the Sociology of the Arts (RN2), Department of Sociology of ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, Human and Social Sciences School of the New University of Lisbon (FCSH-UNL), Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ICS-UL), Portuguese Sociological Association (APS)
Lisbon, September 2-5, 2009
Understanding globalization as a complex social phenomenon, this paper takes a different stance from both the cultural... more
Understanding globalization as a complex social phenomenon, this paper takes a different stance from both the cultural imperialism paradigm and the fragmented empiricism of several micro-level approaches of the arts. It is based on the approach of the arts as forms of communication, as systems for the creation, production, dissemination and reception of symbolic forms. In this context, the paper explores several features of globalization that affect both the arts and their sociological approach in numerous noteworthy ways.
These features include the introduction of alternative modes for the production of symbolic forms, associated with the development of digital technologies, the convergence of different forms of communication and the broader changes in communications. They also include the collapse of the barriers in cultural exchanges, the opening of the cultural markets and the increasing importance of the global multimedia conglomerates - developments that entail new regulation problems, concerns about cultural diversity and the freedom of expression, as well as the intensification of the global cultural asymmetries.
It is argued that, nevertheless, these same developments created a new condition, reinforcing the proliferation of social networks and their eventual emergence as an alternative mode for the production of culture. The paper focuses on these peculiarities, supporting that globalization - even in its current, neoliberal form - affected in various, contradictory ways all six facets of the production of culture and created many more possibilities for the study of informal and alternative art worlds that have been hardly explored in the past. The paper holds that in these circumstances it is the responsibility of the sociology of the arts not only to study them, but also to suggest ways for their support and development, adopting a synthesis between older approaches and different points of view and taking into account more recent ones, like the social networks market perspective.
From this point of view, the paper takes also a different stance from both the enthusiastic support and the complete rejection of the market mechanisms in the cultural field, as well as from the Internet Nirvana Theory. Its main argument is that cultural and educational policies are needed to support further democratization of the artistic realm, counterbalancing the forces of an uncontrollable market rather than eliminating it whatsoever.
Musical Life and Commodity Relations
Baltzis, Alexandros
In the collective volume: "The Value of Music Today. Music Between Humanism and Commercialization", pp. 153-166.
Athens: Orfeus Publications/Journal Musicology, 2003.
International conference proceedings.
The article analyses and discusses certain functions of commodity relations in musical life. Research on the... more
The article analyses and discusses certain functions of commodity relations in musical life. Research on the implications and significance of these relations represent nowadays a serious challenge for the sociology of music that has provided in the past exemplary elaborations and critical approaches.
The analysis focuses on the fact that the modification of the commodity relations has a strong impact on every section of musical life and in several of its aspects. This impact seems to be reinforced in a multiplicative way in the context of a global economy, where time and space limitations - specific for the previous status quo - are removed. From this point of view, the form of globalization, that is dominant for the time being, takes on a special importance for musical life. It plays a part in the development of new patterns of musical culture in general.
In these unprecedented circumstances musical education acquires particular significance. It may function in a decisive way not only - and not mainly - as an autonomous form of education, but rather as an organic component embedded in a system of education that takes seriously into account aesthetics and art. This course involves a thoroughly elaborated reconsideration of musical education in its entirety. It also involves the kind of rearrangements that inescapably are tied up with political decisions.
Download (.pdf) The Mediamorphosis of the Artistic Communication (Reproduction, Broadcast, Internet)
Baltzis, Alexandros
Seminar of the European research network Digital Radio Cultures in Europe (COST A20), Pages: 18, Year: 2004
This is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological framework for the study of the impact that the internet... more
This is an introduction to the theoretical and methodological framework for the study of the impact that the internet has on the artistic communication.
The first part introduces the main changes of the artistic communication brought about by modernity. It also analyses briefly commodification, intermediation and emancipation as the main features of this form of communication in modern societies.
In the second part, the analysis regards reproduction and broadcast as two successive phases in the development of the ways to distribute artworks and introduces a review of the analytic term "mediamorphosis". Although the term is introduced at the beginning of the '70s, it is elaborated just at the beginning of the '90s in the fields of the communication and journalism studies (by Fidler) and in the sociology of music (by Blaukopf). By the beginning of the next decade, the term is used in the sociology of the arts (by A. Schmudits), in order to signify the major changes of the cultural and artistic production brought about by the development of the mass communication and the media. In this context, the lecture explores the main features of the artistic communication in its most recent phase - the internet.
The third part of the lecture describes the main features of the mediamorphosis of the artistic communication through the internet: digitalization, global dissemination, interactivity, development of the global multimedia conglomerates, production designed as ever-expanding revenue stream, flexible specialization and finally high concentration and diversification, but - at the same time - high degrees of product diversity and consumer choice.
Finally, in this complex and contradictory context, the lecture describes in broad strokes the main asymmetries and antinomies of the current phase in the development of the artistic communication, as well as its different aspects.
Globalization and Musical Culture
Baltzis, Alexandros
Acta Musicologica, 77(1): 137-150. Published: 2005
The first part of this article outlines the main features of globalization as a complex social phenomenon and the... more
The first part of this article outlines the main features of globalization as a complex social phenomenon and the basic approaches to it by social scientists. The second part discusses the changes brought about by the technological developments taking place in a globalized system of reified social relations. This discussion affirms that the institutional changes - concerning mainly music production and distribution - and the structural changes of musical communication transform the reception of the artworks. Considering also the processes of transculturation, these changes form a new context for the creation of music, in an environment of global cultural exchanges. The third part of the article, analyzes the asymmetries and antinomies that result from the globalization of musical culture. The article ascertains that the formal democratization of musical life constitutes an essential feature of the modern musical culture on a global level. This situation favors the coexistence of risks and opportunities on a global and on a local level as well. The article maintains also that the economic, cultural and political aspects of these developments cannot be separated any more. Actually, the globalization of musical culture means globalization of the reified social relations in the cultural field.
This conclusion follows from analyses that appear in the international literature about the economic and cultural consequences of the predominance of global multimedia conglomerates, as well as from analyses of the unequal intellectual property system which these conglomerates impose on a global level. These circumstances construct a new framework for the mass media seen as institutions for the reproduction and distribution of music (and generally of artworks), and - consequently - as systems for the management of aesthetic values. The article arrives also at the conclusion that the developments under discussion create new possibilities for cultural action, interaction, and reaction.
Finally, the study points out some of the new challenges that emerge for the "traditional" musicology, the sociology of music, the theory of artistic education, and also for the cultural and educational policy.
‘And the Building Becomes Man’: Meaning and Aesthetics in Rudolf Steiner’s Goetheanum
in Carole M. Cusack and Alex Norman (eds), Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production, Leiden, Brill, 2012, pp. 173-191.
Rudolf Steiner, founder of the Anthroposophical Society, is renowned for his work in widely varied fields. However,... more
Rudolf Steiner, founder of the Anthroposophical Society, is renowned for his work in widely varied fields. However, his accomplishments as an architect are less well understood. His two greatest achievements in this field – two buildings known as ‘Geotheanum I’ and ‘Goetheanum II’ (built after the destruction of the 1st) – have been described as ‘sculptural architecture’, of a kind similar Expressionist form to Gaudi, Obrist, and Finsterlin. The focus of this chapter, Goetheanum II, is a giant sculptured form, four stories high, with sweeping lines that give the effect of a giant monolithic mass. It is home to the Anthroposophical movement, and holds a 1,000 seat performance hall in which spiritual performances take place. Contributors to an issue of the Swiss architectural magazine Werk, in 1960, on the building, agreed that the building’s design must have required “a uniform worldview and lifestyle.” Indeed, to understand the Goetheanum requires an understanding of Anthroposophy and of Steiner himself.
This chapter looks at the meaning in the aesthetic choices of Steiner in the design and construction of the Goetheanum II. Steiner’s belief that the people of Western Europe needed to re-orientate their weltanschauung is understood as a spiritual need. Interestingly, it was a view shared by many Expressionist artists. Steiner could not have been unaware of a number of significant Expressionistic philosophies and forms present in Europe during his formative period. As a lecturer he travelled extensively, and came into contact with many artists and writers who shared similar ideas. His vision for the Goetheanum was grandiose, like those of many other Expressionists, though unlike many others he had the opportunity to build his vision himself. The Goetheanum has also been referred to as a gesamtkunstwerk, also a theme common in the German art scene at the time. Yet Steiner wanted something ‘new’ for his nascent spiritual group; “Not to build in a style born out of our spiritual world view, would mean to deny Anthroposphy in her own house.” As a result the Geotheanum expresses Anthroposophical ideals, a movement which itself professed to inhabit the entire cultural life of its adherents. For Steiner this was came in the form of spiritual realisation, which could best be achieved in the sculptural shapes and organic forms of the Goetheanum
Playing the Game: Leveraging artistic freedom, technical demand and financial pressure in video game development
Co.authored with Ulf Sandqvist.
Originally prepared to be presented at NFF conference 20-24 Aug, 2011, but I was unable to presnt this.
The development of video games has grown from a playful activity at universities, and military research, in the early... more
The development of video games has grown from a playful activity at universities, and military research, in the early 1950s to a professional and profitable industry. Today, the video games industry is one of the major cultural industries with a turnover from sale in the video game industry exceeding that of box office revenues in the film industry. Despite this size is this industry, apart from a few publications (Cadin et al. 2006, Cadin and Guérin 2006, Kerr 2006, Readman and Grantham 2006, Tschang and Szczypula 2006, Walfisz 2006, Zackariasson et al. 2006a, Zackariasson et al 2006b), much ignored in academic research this far. This is about to change, not least in Sweden where theses about video games industry arouses a growing interest (Dymek 2010, Sandqvist 2007, 2010; Zackariasson 2003, 2007).
In this paper we aim to contribute to the discussion about leadership in the borderline between artistic freedom, technical limitations and financial pressure. Today, this is very much where the video game industry is situated. Leadership in cultural organizations, such as video games developer, has a significant role to capture the creativity and channel it towards innovations in production, video games, in this case. Guillet de Monthoux et al. (2007) argues that there is a certain fuzzyness in this type of organization, which places special demands on the leadership to encourage this flow and steer them towards a common goal. This argument is supported by Byrne et al. (2009) who suggests that leadership has an impact on an innovative process in which creative people can express their knowledge. Compared with the assumptions of the individual creative person and its driving force. The reason for the leadership and creativity in computer game development is a very good case to study is that this industry represents the output of today's cultural and technological society. Video game industry is also an industry which is heavily dependent on -the creativity and artistic creation (Tschang 2007, Zackariasson et al 2006), video games, like other cultural products, designed to stimulate our senses and arouse emotions. The process in which the game develops commute thus between artistic creativity and technical craft.
The reason for writing this text at this time is to put forth a number of thoughts for a research project on leadership in the Swedish video game industry that has just been initiated. For this project we are using both qualitative and quantitative data in order to create knowledge about leadership in this industry. The results of the project will be published in 2014.
Above the Bottom Line: Understanding Australian Screen Content Producers
Co-authored with Allan Cameron and David Court, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy, Issue 136 (Aug 2010), pp. 90-102.
The recently completed Australian Screen Producer Survey provides the most current and detailed picture of the... more
The recently completed Australian Screen Producer Survey provides the most current and detailed picture of the culture, motivations and aspirations of a highly influential sector of the content production industries. Drawing upon the results of the survey, this article reflects on the historical and theoretical difficulties entailed in defining the producer as a professional category, before outlining some of the survey's key findings. In particular, it examines producers' demographic and sectoral profile, analyses their attitudes towards the relative importance of education and experience, and explores their underlying motivations.
Amongst other findings, the survey reveals a tendency towards idealism among Australian producers that would appear to be at odds with the financial realities of the business. It therefore offers a variety of stakeholders (including government and educational institutions, as well as producers themselves) with the opportunity to reflect upon the future shape and direction of the Australian media industry.