Prosuming Academia: The Circuit of Unpaid Work in the Academic Environment

Abstract

This essay explores the dynamics of prosuming academia as a continuous and often invisible circuit of unpaid and voluntary work in the academic environment. Grounded in the theoretical framework of prosumption and unpaid work, it critically analyses how academic environments perpetuate asymmetries and exploitation through the expectation of voluntary contributions that sustain institutional functions. The essay highlights that prosuming encompasses both paid and unpaid forms of labor, underscoring the blurred boundaries that enable systemic inequities. By framing academia as an ongoing, incomplete circuit of prosumerism, the paper reveals how unpaid and voluntary intellectual work becomes a site of contested value, reinforcing hierarchies and unequal distributions of recognition and reward.