Critical theory and MMPORPG

The following is from the electronic journal CTHEORY. I suggested that it should be linked from the Game On blog run by Beth Gallaway

The Author is an NYU professor and a founder of the radical software group (RSG)

CTHEORY: THEORY, TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE VOL 29, NOS 1-2
*** Visit CTHEORY Online: http://www.ctheory.net ***

1000 Days 033 16/02/2006 Editors: Arthur and Marilouise Kroker

~Warcraft~ and Utopia
======================
~Alexander R. Galloway~

The theme of "imagining life after capitalism" is once again the
topic of academic attention, renewed mostly through fresh interest in
certain messianic or predictive claims about the transformation of
the mode of production. Now, however, computers and the information
economy play a central role in the debate.[1] The theme of utopia, in
the work of Fredric Jameson for example, is closely tied to this
question, utopia being a site in which possible non-capitalist
scenarios are worked out, worked through, or otherwise proven not to
work at all. Here, I will examine some of the problems and challenges
for the task of imagining life after capitalism, then I will discuss
two interesting areas -- networks and play -- that have historically
represented threats to or departures from capitalism. Finally, I will
describe how networks and play have in recent decades become entirely
synonymous with the present mode of production and exchange.