Fillip Magazine’s Intangible Economies (2012) tackles the abstract nature of economy in relation to cultural production. Set in the world of cultural/artistic production, the works in this anthology build on the provocative premise of its introduction, providing specialised analyses of the concept of economy as an institutionalised value system.  My response offers a brief look at “Intangible Economies”, the introductory chapter of the anthology. It took me three reads to grasp the salient ideas being expressed in the introductory chapter of the journal (the Footnotes were a saviour !). Making reference to Mauss’ theory of ‘the gift’, Derrida’s theory of representation and the ‘symbolic order’ and Marx’s theory of alienation, Hirsch’s articulation of the relationship between affect and economy raises challenging questions about the value of cultural production in a capitalist economic system.

The above excerpt is from Amanda Haynes’ review of Fillip Magazine’s edition Intangible Economies (2012) , this week’s addition to the Fresh Milk Books Tumblr – the online space inviting interaction with our collection in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

For new Critical. Creative. Fresh reviews every week, look out for our #CCF Tuesdays  and see the good reads we have available at Fresh Milk!