Ahlem Faraoun | The University of Manchester (original) (raw)
Ahlem Faraoun holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Sussex. She is researching the political economy of platform labor with a focus on South Korea.
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Papers by Ahlem Faraoun
Sociology Compass, Nov 16, 2024
The rise of the platform economy is one of the most widely debated issues in contemporary studies... more The rise of the platform economy is one of the most widely debated issues in contemporary studies of work and labor relations. Scholarly work on platform labor has been permeated by claims of radical restructuring, either caused or exacerbated by the disruptive properties of algorithms, networks and data-driven systems of control. However, a growing body of literature has drawn attention to the weaknesses of such claims, highlighting several continuities in the organization of work between the pre-platform and platform economy, including in labor processes and in the regulation of labor-capital relations. This article reviews key theoretical interventions within these areas of the literature, arguing that they eventually point toward the lack of historical distinctiveness of platform labor. It then suggests that a more nuanced and critical understanding of labor restructuring and platformization as part of a process of systemic social change would benefit from engagement with the theory of Uneven and Combined Development (U&CD). This engagement would build on two lines of inquiry: workforce diversity and spatial differentiation in the platform economy. The article concludes that U&CD is a useful meta-theoretical framework to understand change within continuity, accounting for the variegated experiences of platform workers in interconnected spaces of capitalist accumulation.
Bot Populi, 2023
Amidst the rising popularity of narrative content on digital platforms in South Korea, creative p... more Amidst the rising popularity of narrative content on digital platforms in South Korea, creative platform workers in the country are battling deteriorating working conditions, including increasing labor intensity and working hours, incidences of physical and mental health issues, along with worsening gender inequality. The struggle for fairer working conditions in the industry underscores the need for a paradigm shift in the perception of labor protection as a universal right. The article argues that a collaborative effort between platform workers and civil society organizations is imperative to push for accountability and democratic representation in policymaking processes. The article posits that such an approach will help to address the legal ambiguities and power asymmetries that plague the creative platform workers in South Korea.
European Journal of Korean Studies, 2021
The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanatory account of the role of emotions in the tra... more The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanatory account of the role of emotions in the trade dispute between Japan and South Korea which started in July 2019. Building on an integrated approach to the study of emotions in international relations, it argues that the collective experience of emotions in situations of conflict has to be understood in relation to the moralities assumed by the parties involved. It proposes a theoretical framework combining the concepts of mimetic desire and ressentiment coined by René Girard and Friedrich Nietzsche, respectively, in order to problematize the dialectic of power-justice underlying the processes of legitimation and self-justification by the two countries. In this sense, the strong emotional reactivity between both elites and people in South Korea and Japan can be attributed to the contradictions between the desires for superiority and equality channelled by nation-state-centred narratives. It concludes that ending the cycle of emotional reactivity requires both parties to move toward commitments to justice and empathy at the domestic and international levels.
Sociology Compass, Nov 16, 2024
The rise of the platform economy is one of the most widely debated issues in contemporary studies... more The rise of the platform economy is one of the most widely debated issues in contemporary studies of work and labor relations. Scholarly work on platform labor has been permeated by claims of radical restructuring, either caused or exacerbated by the disruptive properties of algorithms, networks and data-driven systems of control. However, a growing body of literature has drawn attention to the weaknesses of such claims, highlighting several continuities in the organization of work between the pre-platform and platform economy, including in labor processes and in the regulation of labor-capital relations. This article reviews key theoretical interventions within these areas of the literature, arguing that they eventually point toward the lack of historical distinctiveness of platform labor. It then suggests that a more nuanced and critical understanding of labor restructuring and platformization as part of a process of systemic social change would benefit from engagement with the theory of Uneven and Combined Development (U&CD). This engagement would build on two lines of inquiry: workforce diversity and spatial differentiation in the platform economy. The article concludes that U&CD is a useful meta-theoretical framework to understand change within continuity, accounting for the variegated experiences of platform workers in interconnected spaces of capitalist accumulation.
Bot Populi, 2023
Amidst the rising popularity of narrative content on digital platforms in South Korea, creative p... more Amidst the rising popularity of narrative content on digital platforms in South Korea, creative platform workers in the country are battling deteriorating working conditions, including increasing labor intensity and working hours, incidences of physical and mental health issues, along with worsening gender inequality. The struggle for fairer working conditions in the industry underscores the need for a paradigm shift in the perception of labor protection as a universal right. The article argues that a collaborative effort between platform workers and civil society organizations is imperative to push for accountability and democratic representation in policymaking processes. The article posits that such an approach will help to address the legal ambiguities and power asymmetries that plague the creative platform workers in South Korea.
European Journal of Korean Studies, 2021
The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanatory account of the role of emotions in the tra... more The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanatory account of the role of emotions in the trade dispute between Japan and South Korea which started in July 2019. Building on an integrated approach to the study of emotions in international relations, it argues that the collective experience of emotions in situations of conflict has to be understood in relation to the moralities assumed by the parties involved. It proposes a theoretical framework combining the concepts of mimetic desire and ressentiment coined by René Girard and Friedrich Nietzsche, respectively, in order to problematize the dialectic of power-justice underlying the processes of legitimation and self-justification by the two countries. In this sense, the strong emotional reactivity between both elites and people in South Korea and Japan can be attributed to the contradictions between the desires for superiority and equality channelled by nation-state-centred narratives. It concludes that ending the cycle of emotional reactivity requires both parties to move toward commitments to justice and empathy at the domestic and international levels.