The Industry of Smart Toys: Cultural Implications from the Political Economy

Abstract

This chapter discusses the implications of the structure of production of smart toys and the resulting local linguistic and cultural possibilities, combining the framework of the political economy of children’s media and leisure with the cultural and creative industries approach in the context of the increasing commercialisation of children’s culture. The chapter draws on content analysis of media and advertising from 12 countries in the Internet of Toys project, linguistic analysis of smart toys’ websites, analyses of start-up case studies from Lithuania and Portugal and secondary data on children, technology and digital literacy. While the production and promotion of smart toys are heavily reliant on global market logics, national and European incentives to software companies are not governed by the intention to support smaller linguistic cultures.