This new book analyses the strategies, usages and wider implications of crowdsourcing and crowdfunding platforms in the culture and communication industries that are reshaping economic, organizational and social logics. Platforms are the object of considerable hype with a growing global presence. Relying on individual contributions coordinated by social media to finance cultural production (and carry out promotional tasks) is a significant shift, especially when supported by morphing public policies, supposedly enhancing cultural diversity and accessibility.

The aim of this book is to propose a critical analysis of these phenomena by questioning what follows from decisions to outsource modes of creation and funding to consumers. Drawing on research carried out within the ‘Collab’ programme backed by the French National Research Agency, the book considers how platforms are used to organize cultural labour and/or to control usages, following a logic of suggestion rather than overt injunction. Four key areas are considered: the history of crowdfunding as a system; whose interests crowdfunding may serve; the implications for digital labour and lastly crowdfunding’s interface with globalization and contemporary capitalism. The book concludes with an assessment of claims that crowdfunding can democratize culture.

Philanthropy is commonly depicted as a universal practice and is either valued for supporting community transformation or critiqued for limiting social justice. However, dominant definitions and even popular connotations tend to privilege wealthy Western approaches. Using the Caribbean as a rich site of observance and concentrating on the island nation-state of The Bahamas, Get Involved! uncovers the hidden and under-documented activities of “philanthropy from below,” revealing a broader conception of philanthropy and civil society, especially within Black and other historically marginalized populations. Kim Williams-Pulfer draws on narrative analysis from enslavement to the current post-post-colonial moment, depicting the repertoires and practices of primarily Afro-Bahamians through the stories emerging from history (including the transnational observations of Zora Neale Hurston, social movements, and political and social institution building), the arts (from Junkanoo, literature, and visual practices), to the lived experiences of contemporary civil society leaders. Get Involved! shows the long history and continued significance of civil society and philanthropic engagement in The Bahamas, the circum-Caribbean, and the wider African Diaspora.

Junkanoo is the national cultural festival of The Bahamas.  It fosters a sense of community pride, identity, companionship, spirituality and unity. Watch a video about Junknoo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnMpMesNb1Q&t=14s

A revealing, data-rich exploration of how American legislators transformed from active policymakers into party fundraisers.

Lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures across the United States spend enormous amounts of time and effort fundraising, not just for their own seats but for the party. Whether dialing for dollars or hosting high-priced fundraising events, the pursuit of campaign funds is now a massive part of the American legislator’s job description. What explains this transformation, and what are the consequences for public policy?

In Paying for the Party, Michael Kistner uses new theory and new data to answer these questions. He shows that state legislative party organizations—Democratic and Republican caucuses in capitols across the country—are responsible for turning their members into single-minded seekers of money. Parties reward legislators who contribute the most with powerful leadership and committee positions. Consequently, the members who now hold these agenda-setting positions are increasingly neither the most productive nor knowledgeable lawmakers, but rather those who can raise the most money. And when legislators are asked to raise more money, they skip committee hearings for fundraising events, enacting fewer substantive policies as a result. Paying for the Party shows that parties in contemporary American legislatures have hollowed out the policymaking capacity of their institutions and empowered a decidedly non-representative set of legislators.