Keywords
immaterial labor
the body
power
television series
How to Cite
Abstract
The paper provides a critical reading of a television series Mad Men, focusing on the way it challenges popular ideas about creative work. In contrast to the Druckerian version of management theory that conceives creativity as a purely mental ability, occurring solely in the abstract sphere of ideas, I propose to understand creativity as a kind of “immaterial labor.” This category refers to the act of producing intangible commodities – like ideas, images and codes – that are both embodied and that constitute the material itself. In this context, I argue that the representations of embodiment in Mad Men provide a way to reassess the prevailing management ideologies and reconsider creative labor as an inherently social and cooperative endeavor.References
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