Barbarians at the Imperium Gates: Organizational Culture and Change in EVE Online

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4101/jvwr.v10i3.7257

Keywords:

EVE Online, culture, identity, Goonswarm, TEST, history, organisational culture

Abstract

This article looks at organizational culture and identity of different organisations in EVE Online, using a combination of critical historical and ethnographic approaches. We argue that it is helpful to understand major organizations in EVE as analogous to early polities, in terms of the ways in which claims to leadership and power are demonstrated (for example through the writing of history). Yet, as we show, these organizations have strong cultures which demonstrate resilience and a resistance to top-down cultural change, meaning that the successful implementation of such change is governed by rank-and-file members rather than their leadership. We propose that the cultural (rather than political or social) nature of this resilience is centrally important in understanding how organizations in EVE function. This unity of practices and understanding allows EVE

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Published

2018-01-04

Issue

Section

Peer Reviewed Research Papers