a lot of people who emphasize the importance of analyzing the material conditions underlying things are unfortunately really bad at analyzing the material conditions underlying things...
@alyssa *hastily sweeping Yuletide under the rug* "sO ANYWAYS my Materialist Analysis of why this group of people are doing a lot of hyperspecific intellectual labor for no profit iS--"
for example, analyzing the material base underlying the production and reception of "fanfiction" cannot begin and end with copyright law. like obviously at a very minimum you have to discuss fandom...