2018/11/04 by Robert van Krieken · 40 citations
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Neuroscience · #Digital Games and Media #Cinema and Media Studies #Mind wandering and attention #Capitalism #Parallels #Context (archaeology) #Sociology #Capital (architecture) #Economics #Field (mathematics) #Economy #Neoclassical economics #Political science #Law #History
paper · doi:10.1177/1440783318812111
published in Journal of Sociology 55(1), 3-7 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2018/11/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
This article places Georg Franck’s ‘The Economy of Attention’ in the context of the broader discussions of ‘the attention economy’, and the increasing significance of attention in a knowledge society characterised by ever-increasing flows of information and data. I highlight the four core elements of Franck’s theory of the economy of attention: first, the importance of the fundamental human desire for attention; second, his emphasis on the parallels between attention and money, making it more literally a form of capital than is usually assumed; third, the self-reproducing character of attention capital, earning interest just as money does; fourth, the connections between the economy of attention and the expanding impetus towards everyone becoming a celebrity and a ‘brand’ within what he calls ‘mental capitalism’, with the field of academic labour a key example.