Deakin University
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Virtual villages: networking the global archipelago

chapter
posted on 2014-01-01, 00:00 authored by Karen Le RossignolKaren Le Rossignol
In today’s changing economy, moving rapidly beyond industrial and information priorities, the creative arts, industries and enterprises have a powerful capacity for transforming a society’s cultural and economic capabilities and growth. One of the greatest challenges for present and future workplace participants in the context of this rapid change is the need to adapt to changing roles within a capitalism which has moved beyond a focus on the production of commodities to a greater social and economic flexibility. Gee talks of the ‘new capitalism’ requiring ‘shape-shifting portfolio people’ , creative and entrepreneurial individuals who can take on multiple identities. The key to managing this change is to focus on building a capacity to design new identities, affinity groups and networks. The virtual villages project described in this paper is a creative response to building ‘shape-shifting’ skills, focusing on the power of narrative immersion through virtual world environments to explore issues for rural and regional communities. The project aims to assist local communities in geographically diverse regions to develop their capacities for designing new identities through participating in the creation of digital storylines and characters for problem-solving. This will also have the outcome of an expanded affinity group (the project participants and their digital audiences) and potentially global networks (the archipelago). The concept of virtual villages utilizes associational narrative techniques, exploring portals of virtual worlds, thresholds of community discovery and fragments of narrative as the framework. Developing associational narratives which explore and share creative problem solving across diverse virtual villages will provide both individuals and the community with the ‘shape-shifting’ capacity to situate themselves beyond current community networks and identities.

History

Chapter number

3

Pagination

1-9

ISBN-13

9781848883215

Publication classification

B1 Book chapter, B Book chapter

Copyright notice

2014, Inter-Disciplinary Press

Extent

9

Editor/Contributor(s)

Gregory S, Jerry P, Tavares Jones N

Publisher

Inter-Disciplinary Press

Place of publication

Witney, England

Title of book

At the edge of the rift

Usage metrics

    Research Publications

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC