Date

5-2018

Document Type

Capstone Project (Open Access)

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

Department

Social, Behavioral & Global Studies

Major

Global Studies

First Advisor

Ajit Abraham

Second Advisor

Richard Harris

Abstract

Japanese animation, or ‘Anime’ is considered a unique creative cultural product that has become a global phenomenon, but little attention is paid to its industrial production process, the poor working conditions of domestic animators, and their position within the structure of labor organization in Japan. By analyzing research concerning the current stakeholders in the industry, historical conditions that led to the creation of television broadcast animation, overseas subcontracting networks, and the development of commercial fan cultures through Maurizio Lazzarato’s concept of Immaterial Labor, Michael Hardt’s concept of Affective Labor, Laikwan Pang’s concepts of the intensification of contradictory creative logics and the creative chain of production, and Aihwa Ong’s concept of neoliberalism as a mobile technology, the goal of this project is to understand roots of the exploitative conditions that the lowest level domestic animators face in the Japanese animation industry within local, national, and global contexts.

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