“Illicit but Legal”: The Ambivalent Morality and Resistance of the Japanese Digital Precariat.

This article discusses the experiences of 13 Japanese lower-middle-class online gamers and their trade of weapons and rare objects collected in-game. The informants engaged in these exchanges through digital flea markets (DFM), even when the platforms banned the practice and threatened legal repercussions. These individuals’ sense of insecurity strengthened their relationship during these events. Informants’ offline performances did not mirror their indifference to the authority of the digital marketplace. This duality meant the users created an ambivalent morality that, in the online case, conveniently allowed them to contravene rules in the pursuit of profits. The informants argued they were resisting against an unfair rule that sought to outlaw their exchanges.
The aim of the article is two-folded. First, the article aims to observe informants’ use of resistance narratives to continue their trades. The second is to discuss what legitimized the ambivalent morality of the group in its quest for profit and in what way it functioned. This article argues that this ambiguity sprung from the internalization of neoliberal arguments, such as self-entrepreneurship and the marketization of individual abilities.