228 research outputs found

    Leveraging affect: mobilizing enthusiasm and the co-production of the musical economy

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    This chapter considers the promises and problems of fandom and enthusiasm within capitalism, with particular reference to rise of crowdsourcing as a means of mobilising fan enthusiasm to fund new creative projects, with a particular focus on the music industry. Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative way of funding projects caused by the more cautious investments of record companies, and is the latest development here firms and companies have sought to harness the affect and emotions of fans. However, although crowdfunding may tap new sources of money, the process is not without its costs, both in terms of the demands placed on its users and of being able to navigate a system that requires reserves of social, cultural and financial capital

    Leveraging affect: mobilizing enthusiasm and the co-production of the musical economy

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    This chapter considers the promises and problems of fandom and enthusiasm within capitalism, with particular reference to rise of crowdsourcing as a means of mobilising fan enthusiasm to fund new creative projects, with a particular focus on the music industry. Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative way of funding projects caused by the more cautious investments of record companies, and is the latest development here firms and companies have sought to harness the affect and emotions of fans. However, although crowdfunding may tap new sources of money, the process is not without its costs, both in terms of the demands placed on its users and of being able to navigate a system that requires reserves of social, cultural and financial capital

    Ontological co-belonging in Peter Sloterdijk's spherological philosophy of mediation

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    (Winner of the 2017 Paragraph annual essay prize competition, on the theme of ‘Belongings’) This article examines the ontology and politics of Peter Sloterdijk's Spheres trilogy, focusing in particular upon the notion of microspherical enclosure explicated in the first volume of this series. Noting Sloterdijk's unusual alignment of his philosophy with media theory, three main contentions are put forward. Firstly, that Sloterdijk's reconfiguration of Heidegger's fundamental ontology represents a largely unacknowledged renunciation of the primacy of Being-towards-death in the authentic existence of Dasein, foregrounding instead an originary co-belonging between mother and child. Secondly, that Sloterdijk borrows from media theory a concern regarding the facticity of all communication, grounding philosophical discourse in the determinate locality of its origin, but does so while exalting a pre-natal communicative immediacy that would seem to disparage the everydayness of Dasein. Finally, that Sloterdijk's oft-justified scepticism regarding globalization often retreats into an anti-cosmopolitanism that, in its nostalgia for the comfort, security and immediacy of the matrixial co-belonging (and the various attempts by humans to replicate this enclosure), evinces a covert but potentially noxious politics of exclusion

    Risk of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Decreases With Height, Based on Consortium Analysis and Confirmed by Mendelian Randomization

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    Background & Aims Risks for some cancers increase with height. We investigated the relationship between height and risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and its precursor, Barrett's esophagus (BE). Methods We analyzed epidemiologic and genome-wide genomic data from individuals of European ancestry in the Barrett's and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium, from 999 cases of EAC, 2061 cases of BE, and 2168 population controls. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for associations between height and risks of EAC and BE. We performed a Mendelian randomization analysis to estimate an unconfounded effect of height on EAC and BE using a genetic risk score derived from 243 genetic variants associated with height as an instrumental variable. Results Height was associated inversely with EAC (per 10-cm increase in height: OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.62–0.79 for men and OR, 0.57; 95% CI 0.40–0.80 for women) and BE (per 10-cm increase in height: OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.62–0.77 for men and OR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.48–0.77 for women). The risk estimates were consistent across strata of age, education level, smoking, gastroesophageal reflux symptoms, body mass index, and weight. Mendelian randomization analysis yielded results quantitatively similar to those from the conventional epidemiologic analysis. Conclusions Height is associated inversely with risks of EAC and BE. Results from the Mendelian randomization study showed that the inverse association observed did not result from confounding factors. Mechanistic studies of the effect of height on EAC and BE are warranted; height could have utility in clinical risk stratification

    Reframing labour market mobility in global finance: Chinese elites in London’s financial district

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    In this paper, I use the case of elite Chinese financial mobility to London’s financial district to argue that comparatively neglected forms of elite financial migration from beyond the Global North provide important insights into the changing geographical form, and labour market practices within, leading international financial centres. By reporting on original empirical research, two main findings emerge. First, Chinese financial mobility to London has a distinctive geographical footprint in terms of both financial services activity and residential choices. Second, the rationale behind elite Chinese financial mobility to London cannot be fully explained by existing work on highly skilled migration and expatriation that emphasises the economic imperatives driving mobility. In response, I argue that work on elite mobility requires a fuller engagement with wider debates in economic geography that examine the interdependencies and inter-relationships between states and markets. These findings raise important questions surrounding the durability of Chinese finance in London, its relationship to global finance in London more generally, and wider understandings of elite financial labour markets
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