Decoding the Neoliberal Politics of Digital Games
STRUGGLING WITH SIMULATIONS: DECODING THE NEOLIBERAL POLITICS OF DIGITAL GAMES by David Thomas Murphy Master of Arts, Cinema and Media Studies, York University, Toronto, Ontario, 2008 Bachelor of Arts combined honors, Media, Information, and Technoculture and Film Studies, Western University, London, Ontario, 2005 A dissertation presented to Ryerson University and York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the program of Communication & Culture Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2016 © David Murphy, 2016 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A DISSERTATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this dissertation. This is a true copy of the dissertation, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this dissertation to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this dissertation by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my dissertation may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract Struggling with Simulations: Decoding the Neoliberal Politics of Digital Games Doctor of Philosophy (2016) David Thomas Murphy Communication and Culture Ryerson University and York University As a creative industry currently rivalling film and television, digital games are filled with a variety of political tensions that exist both between and within particular works. Unfortunately, internal discrepancies are often dismissed as indicators of political ambivalence, or treated as formal flaws that need to be overcome. To address this gap, this dissertation draws from game studies, media studies, and political economics to investigate the contradictory relationships between popular games and neoliberalism, specifically in relation to playful forms of resistance and critique that emerge during gameplay.
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