I am more than happy to share that my first book, Make, Fail, Repeat: Creative Labour in the Start-Up Age, is now available.
In the book, I investigate how the popularization of start-up entrepreneurship and the diffusion of Lean and Agile managerial methods have reshaped corporate structures and influenced professional cultures in the creative industries.
I discuss how start-up is no longer just an economic and managerial concept but also a cultural phenomenon that is reshaping how we conceive creative work in the 21st century. It does this by furthering the idea that withdrawal from traditional disciplinary regimes such as formal education and wage labor is a necessary step on the path toward professional and personal realization.
But what happens when one decides to set sail on the tumultuous waters of independent creative work?
The book addresses this question through a 22-month ethnographic investigation of the Vancouver new media industry. Through interviews with creative practitioners and participation in informal gatherings for digital media workers, the book provides a compelling perspective on creative labor. It introduces a new theoretical framework for understanding alienation and marginalization in freelance creative work and explores innovative ways in which independent workers organize to combat exploitation.
The book is available for purchase on all major online bookstores. If you want to receive an evaluation copy, please contact me.