Performing Play: Cultural Production on Twitch.tv

Digital games are a major part of the global economy, and participation in gaming cultures can lead to informal learning in computer science and technology. However, recent news stories highlight the often toxic attitudes that gamers have towards marginalized populations participating in, and having a voice regarding game culture. A valuable lens into game culture that may help us to understand its operations is in an increasingly popular practice: streaming gameplay for others on platforms like Twitch.tv. My dissertation aims to understand the performance of play using mixed methodologies, informed by a sociological approach called field analysis. The proposed research aims to understand the performance of play in terms of the individual, the spaces that support the practice, and the relations of power within the wider economic field of digital games.

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