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Power in Hollywood: Work, Agency, and Authorship in the Era of #MeToo57 views
Author
Dessauer, Julia, Sociology - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia
Advisors
Reed, Isaac, University of Virginia
Abstract
In an industry where “all hits are flukes,” how does power operate? As a workplace, how is Hollywood organized? How are careers forged and sustained amidst such precarity and ambiguity? And, how have recent social movements affected work and hiring practices in the industry? These questions motivate my research and serve as the foundation of the three papers herein. To examine Hollywood as a workplace, I draw from and add to diverse theories and literatures, including cultural approaches to agency theory and Foucauldian-influenced theories of organizations and professions. I use the cases of assistants and television writers to complicate models of collective production and show how patrimonial systems organize relationships throughout the industry.
Degree
PHD (Doctor of Philosophy)
Keywords
Hollywood; sociology of work; cultural sociology
Language
English
Rights
All rights reserved (no additional license for public reuse)
Dessauer, Julia. Power in Hollywood: Work, Agency, and Authorship in the Era of #MeToo. University of Virginia, Sociology - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, PHD (Doctor of Philosophy), 2025-04-30, https://doi.org/10.18130/mxk9-xv85.
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