Producing and Consuming the Snowboarding BodyQuestion • If we define sport as organized, physical, competitive play. – What happens to sport when you get paid to do it? Does sport become work? Can it still be considered play? Are professional athletes “playing” or are they working? If they’re working, then are they participating in sport at all? – How does this relate to class dynamics, capitalism, and Marx’s critiques?Three Conditions of Capitalism • The existence of capitalism depends on: 1. Continuous economic growth (through capital accumulation) 2. Accumulation of capital fuels competition 3. Accumulation leads to exploitation of workers • These three are contradictory, and so capitalism is crisis-prone – And ultimately will lead to class warfare1: Capital Accumulation1: Capital Accumulation - Burton Snowboards • Burton’s “primary drive was to create a successful business and make a good living…” – 1979: approx. $25,000 in sales; 1984: over $1 mil. • Competitors began to arise, and in the 1980s collectively they began hosting competitions – This increased the popularity of the sport by creating a “larger, national, and international community” – This also impacted the commercial success of Burton and his competitors1: Capital Accumulation – cont. • The competition was “healthy for snowboarding’s advancement” (Marx would agree) – Competition fueled growth, got the word out • Burton experienced a period of intense growth as profits were sought • This was followed by a lag in snowboarding as the market was flooded with companies. – Many went under… – Accumulation is a contradictory process: profits can fall and accumulation cannot occur or is limited – Leads to seeking out new markets (international, niche markets) to accumulate more capital2: Competition2: Competition • As other large companies enter the snowboarding market, competition increases – This makes “cultural authenticity” an important factor for consumers • Both in who they buy from and what it means on the mountain – So, now not only the products but the company image is important • Companies invest time and money to “create and re-create a culturally authentic corporate image” (Thorpe, 54)2: Competition • What are some factors that make a company seem “authentic” (to snowboarders or in general)? • How do snowboarders navigate authenticity as the sport becomes more popular and “poseurs” enter the mix?2: Competition • What are some factors that make a company seem “authentic” (to snowboarders or in general)? – Established history – Knowledge of the sport (and its history) – Not “mainstream” – Not too commercially successful (is Burton an exception?) – No ulterior motives – Lingo2: Competition • Remember: – Authenticity is dynamic. It’s meaning changes across time and space, among different groups, etc. – Who gets to decide what is authentic or not? To what extent do corporations have the power to determine this? Individual boarders?2: Competition • Marx: Accumulation (and competition) leads to exploitation – How does Burton do with this? • Relaxed workplace and good benefits for employees • Flexible schedule • Relies heavily on part-time “non-core” workers to maintain company flexibility • Sometimes acts in the interests of the company – Not as simple as yes/no3: Exploitation • Snowboarding companies sponsor professional teams – Help connect with average snowboarders and promote new fashions, products, ideas, “coolness” • These professionals are chosen because of their marketability – Skills, personality, attitude, etc. – Perceived as a “dream job” • But sometimes manifests elements of exploitation3: Exploitation • Commodification: “The process(es) through which social relations are reduced to an exchange relation” – i.e. going from living in a market economy to living in a market society… – Translation of market mentality into spheres of life outside of economic relations – It is taking anything and turning it into a marketable item • Body as commodity (think of all of the pieces of your body that can be sold… and entire bodies that are sold)3: Exploitation • Snowboarders can be commodified: Gaetan Chanut is a good example – Value is boiled down to how much money one is worth – Manufacturers “extort maximum surplus value” form their professional snowboarders • This involves problems associated with risk, compensation for injury, and pension upon leaving the profession • Capitalism transforms human beings into “means for money-making and capital accumulation”3: Exploitation • Alienation: capitalism alienates workers from the act of production – Work loses its intrinsic value and is commodified (saleability is all that matters) • Question: if a snowboarder is paid to snowboard, is it no longer play? – “I didn’t start snowboarding to be pro [or] to watch myself on film but I have to now because that’s what I get paid to do.”Critiques of Marx – Class • Marx divides society into two classes: workers and capitalists and this was meant to lead to social change – But society is not divided into just two classes and social change has many different mechanisms (besides class warfare) – Wealth also is not only based in owning means of production. There are other forms of capital • “owning” “aesthetic ingenuity and the ability to create and mobilize cultural authenticity” – Class fails to account for the enjoyment and opportunities that professionalism offers to some • “Living the dream”Critique of Marx - Culture • Economic Determinism – everything can be reduced to production relations and economic motivations – But, this is not always the case. Some snowboarders refuse opportunities to gain capital • Others “privilege culture and lifestyle over wealth” (64) – The industry does not just make commodities and thus create the culture of snowboarding • Production does not equal culture • Snowboarders choose what they consumePost-Fordism • Post-Fordism helps us better explain the dynamic between production and culture – Much more flexible economic system • Characterized by “rapid and highly specialized responses” • Fast-changing economy with much more diversity and fragmentation • Economies of scope instead of economies of scale • Why is this
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