{"resolved":true,"match_type":"uuid","source_type":"original_book","book_id":"d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406","title":"Curation in the Age of Platform Capitalism  The Value of Selection, Narration, and Expertise in New Media Cultures","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9781032023007","requested_by":"printed_page","book":{"source_type":"original_book","book_id":"d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406","id":"d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406","uuid":"d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406","title":"Curation in the Age of Platform Capitalism  The Value of Selection, Narration, and Expertise in New Media Cultures","normalized_title":"curationintheageofplatformcapitalismthevalueofselectionnarrationandexpertiseinnewmediacultures","author":null,"edition":null,"publisher":null,"year":null,"isbn":"9781032023007","isbns":["9781032023007","9781032023014","9781003182801"],"parsed":true,"ai_readable":true,"document_type":"book","page_count":177,"navigation_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406","title_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/title/Curation%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20Platform%20Capitalism%20%20The%20Value%20of%20Selection%2C%20Narration%2C%20and%20Expertise%20in%20New%20Media%20Cultures","fixed_page_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/ai/book/d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406/page/{printed_page}","path_api_url_template":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/book/d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406/page/{printed_page}","read_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/read/d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406","page_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406/page","search_url":"https://workshop.closeclaw.top/api/ai/books/d1c31cd8-6afd-4ea5-b7b0-085c26a4e406/search"},"page":{"printed_page":55,"pdf_page":65,"physical_index":65,"physical_index_base":0,"printed_page_status":"recognized","page_sha256":"e7a87484fbe1d38d0b4157f3fc4fdefaa2a7e89a77a2a91e39d67d53a138b47b"},"chapter":"CURATION IN THE AGE OF PLATFORM CAPITALISM","content":"As a globalizing yet translocal paradigm, communicative capitalism has an anthropological slant, with one of its pillars, according to Dean, being the social production of reflexivity, or the ability to judge, question, and evaluate one’s own beliefs and practices in the absence of a grand narrative. Reflexivity theorists from the 1990s, such as Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck, saw this ability as potentially democratic and empowering because Western modernity could now look inward and question its own doctrines and assumptions (Beck, 2013). Giddens famously defined Western societies as “post-traditional” where individuals see self-creation as a reflexive project, a project that can be modified, reversed, and changed by individual decisions and lifestyle choices that are independent of the authority of tradition (1994: 56). Others, most notably Zygmunt Bauman, argued that these “liquid lives” of reflexive modern individuals are precarious and uncertain, as individuals are expected to choose their own trajectories in the face of structural risks and with minimal state protection (2013: 1). On a personal level, reflexivity is the constant desire for a “better” self, which makes life “a succession of new beginnings” (Bauman, 2013: 2); common verbal injunctions for such beginnings include “do not miss this opportunity!”, “think outside the box!”, and “it is worth trying!”. However, beginnings can only happen after endings, which are frequently the source of confusion, anxiety, and disorientation (2013: 2). As we will see later, the market mandate to curate (liquid) lives, whether through food choices, information consumption, clothing styles, or self-guidance, opens up a matrix of possibilities for a better self, instilling a constant fear of missing out (FOMO) or missing a potentially better future. In any case, as a generalized anthropological paradigm in advanced capitalism, reflexivity is a by-product of the rise of consumption and do-it-yourself (DIY) self-making, rather than an emancipatory endeavor from below.\n\nDigital platforms are encouraging reflexivity because they mediate users reflexive capacities, that is, they allow anyone who wishes to participate in the questioning of statements made by corporations, politicians, religious figures, or other users to do so through posts, comments, and reviews. The reflexivity loop in post-traditional societies—the reflection on reflection on reflection—is not limited to lifestyle choices such as the music people listen to, the clothes they wear, or the bars they frequent, but also spreads, according to Dean, in more fundamental social institutions such as the “languages we use and sciences we have” or “values that lead us one direction rather than another” (2013: 11).6 That is, communicative capitalism, with its incentive to communicate, accelerates reflexivity—refuting, questioning, and re-evaluating statements, lifestyles, news, narratives, and interpretations.\n\nCurating and Platforms\n\n55","previous_page":54,"next_page":56}