The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different Way of Living

455 Pages·2005·3.27 MB·English

to the net
she’s everything 2 me
We refuse a world where the guarantee that we will not die of starvation entails
the risk of dying of boredom . . . We can escape the commonplace only by
manipulating it, controlling it, thrusting it into our dreams or surrendering it to
the free play of our subjectivity.
– Raoul Vaniegem, The Revolution of Everyday Life, 1967
It doesn’t matter what I think – it plays.
– John le Carré, Tailor of Panama(film), 2001
CONTENTS
INTRO
TOWARDS THE PLAY ETHIC
ONE
NEXT MOVE:
The Birth of a Player
TWO
A GENERAL THEORY OF PLAY
THREE
THE ANGELS MAKE WORK:
Putting the Protestant Ethic Behind Us
FOUR
RISE OF THE SOULITARIANS:
The Net, Digitality and Play
FIVE
LIFESTYLE MILITANTS:
Women, Children and Men at Play
SIX
WISDOM LOVERS:
An Education for Players
SEVEN
THE PLAY AESTHETIC:
Arts, Media and Play Values
EIGHT
FROM BUSINESS TO ‘BUSYNESS’:
The Management of Play
NINE
PLAYING FOR REAL:
The Politics of the Play Ethic
TEN
THE INFINITE GAME:
Play and Spirituality
OUTRO
Beyond the Play Ethic
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NOTES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX