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i
CIVIC GAMES WITH ‘LOCAL FIT’:
EMBEDDING WITH REAL-WORLD NEIGHBORHOODS
AND PLACE-BASED NETWORKS
by
Benjamin Stokes
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(COMMUNICATION)
June 2014
Copyright 2014 Benjamin Stokes
Object Description
| Title | Civic games with 'local fit': embedding with real‐world neighborhoods and place‐based networks |
| Author | Stokes, Benjamin |
| Author email | bstokes@usc.edu;bgs@benjaminstokes.net |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Communication |
| School | Annenberg School for Communication |
| Date defended/completed | 2014-06-02 |
| Date submitted | 2014-07-14 |
| Date approved | 2014-07-14 |
| Restricted until | 2014-07-14 |
| Date published | 2014-07-14 |
| Advisor (committee chair) |
Bar, François Bar, Francois Jenkins, Henry |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Fullerton, Tracy Ball-Rokeach, Sandra J. |
| Abstract | This study offers a new way to understand how game‐based activities can deepen local communities tied to place, including how to evaluate some of the unusual risks. Real‐world games go beyond training by attempting to get something done, like raising funds or deepening trust across race and class divides. By playing games tied to human networks, participants can build social ties. But can the community deepen its collective capacity? Real‐world games require new frameworks to align with regional models for economic development and social justice. This study introduces ""Locally Situated Games"" as a new category to distinguish and compare games that strengthen place‐based communities. Several game‐based activities are analyzed in depth, including Macon Money, Reality Ends Here, and ParTour South LA. Success for these designs is hypothesized to depend on fitting deeply to an existing community, including to critique or change the community. To investigate, this dissertation proposes 'local fit' as a conceptual framework to unite the ""how of games"" with the ""how of communities"" in three dimensions. Each dimension brings a distinct cognitive perspective, including: network mechanics, group identity, and the local ecology of communication. 'Local fit' is used to analyze the case study games, and to explain one case of replication failure. The analysis integrates multiple methods and data sources, including participant observation, network analysis of player relationships, interviews with game designers, and surveys of participating businesses. Findings include a model to localize place‐based games, a process for articulating game mechanics in socio‐cultural terms, several ethical considerations, and consideration of Situated Games as a kind of socio‐economic policy. |
| Keyword | games; civic engagement; community; local; gamification; real‐world; place‐based; design; empowerment; network; ecology; games for change; serious games; social capital; social justice; mechanics; identity; scaling |
| Language | English |
| Format (imt) | application/pdf |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Stokes, Benjamin |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-StokesBenj-2676.pdf |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-StokesBenj-2676.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Repository email | cisadmin@dots.usc.edu |
| Full text | i CIVIC GAMES WITH ‘LOCAL FIT’: EMBEDDING WITH REAL-WORLD NEIGHBORHOODS AND PLACE-BASED NETWORKS by Benjamin Stokes A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (COMMUNICATION) June 2014 Copyright 2014 Benjamin Stokes |
