Doing a favour or doing one's job? : A relational work perspective on precarious commitment in the digital games industry
Andersson Cederholm, Erika LU
; Espersson, Malin
LU
and Bergmasth, Mikael
LU
(2026)
In The Sociological Review
- Abstract
- Drawing on the theoretical framework of ‘relational work’ in economic sociology, the article examines the phenomenon of ‘precarious commitment’ – when employees’ commitment to their work and colleagues simultaneously exposes them to the risk of self-exploitation. The study analyses semi-structured interviews with game developers in the Swedish digital games industry. The article demonstrates the negotiated meanings, relations and compensations for seemingly voluntarily unpaid or paid extra work and the ambiguities and mismatches that emerge when the norms of favour exchange and formal exchange intersect. The analysis highlights accounts of collegial reciprocity, non-reciprocated favours as well as self-blaming and guilting practices. The... (More)
- Drawing on the theoretical framework of ‘relational work’ in economic sociology, the article examines the phenomenon of ‘precarious commitment’ – when employees’ commitment to their work and colleagues simultaneously exposes them to the risk of self-exploitation. The study analyses semi-structured interviews with game developers in the Swedish digital games industry. The article demonstrates the negotiated meanings, relations and compensations for seemingly voluntarily unpaid or paid extra work and the ambiguities and mismatches that emerge when the norms of favour exchange and formal exchange intersect. The analysis highlights accounts of collegial reciprocity, non-reciprocated favours as well as self-blaming and guilting practices. The article contributes to the relational work literature by demonstrating the dynamic interplay between reciprocal and transactional relations within the formal structure of employment. It shows that it is the very intersection between the formal and the informal – where the boundary between morally induced favour reciprocity and formal expectations is indistinct – that may harbour precarious commitment. Hence, it adds new knowledge to the sociology of work through a nuanced analysis of the interactive processes through which precarious commitment is both questioned and potentially reproduced. The article suggests that the unspoken and hence hidden character of gift-giving opens opportunities for exploitation without accountability, which may transfer responsibility to individual employees while obscuring collective solutions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4fd73636-520c-4105-a7b9-289c599d5b04
- author
- Andersson Cederholm, Erika
LU
; Espersson, Malin
LU
and Bergmasth, Mikael
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-04-21
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- commitment to work, creative labour, digital games industry, gift exchange, relational work
- in
- The Sociological Review
- pages
- 20 pages
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105036427659
- ISSN
- 0038-0261
- DOI
- 10.1177/00380261261440746
- project
- Service Studies Management
- Sustainable work in the creative industries: Game developers' working conditions in the digital games industry
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 4fd73636-520c-4105-a7b9-289c599d5b04
- date added to LUP
- 2026-03-10 10:54:17
- date last changed
- 2026-05-19 04:01:53
@article{4fd73636-520c-4105-a7b9-289c599d5b04,
abstract = {{Drawing on the theoretical framework of ‘relational work’ in economic sociology, the article examines the phenomenon of ‘precarious commitment’ – when employees’ commitment to their work and colleagues simultaneously exposes them to the risk of self-exploitation. The study analyses semi-structured interviews with game developers in the Swedish digital games industry. The article demonstrates the negotiated meanings, relations and compensations for seemingly voluntarily unpaid or paid extra work and the ambiguities and mismatches that emerge when the norms of favour exchange and formal exchange intersect. The analysis highlights accounts of collegial reciprocity, non-reciprocated favours as well as self-blaming and guilting practices. The article contributes to the relational work literature by demonstrating the dynamic interplay between reciprocal and transactional relations within the formal structure of employment. It shows that it is the very intersection between the formal and the informal – where the boundary between morally induced favour reciprocity and formal expectations is indistinct – that may harbour precarious commitment. Hence, it adds new knowledge to the sociology of work through a nuanced analysis of the interactive processes through which precarious commitment is both questioned and potentially reproduced. The article suggests that the unspoken and hence hidden character of gift-giving opens opportunities for exploitation without accountability, which may transfer responsibility to individual employees while obscuring collective solutions.}},
author = {{Andersson Cederholm, Erika and Espersson, Malin and Bergmasth, Mikael}},
issn = {{0038-0261}},
keywords = {{commitment to work; creative labour; digital games industry; gift exchange; relational work}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{04}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{The Sociological Review}},
title = {{Doing a favour or doing one's job? : A relational work perspective on precarious commitment in the digital games industry}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00380261261440746}},
doi = {{10.1177/00380261261440746}},
year = {{2026}},
}