Digital labor Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

SOMMARIO: 1. Lavoro autonomo e rivoluzione digitale: due iniziative governative. – 1.1. I ritardi del Welfare italiano: dalla Commissione D’Aragona (1947) al precariato e al lavoro autonomo di seconda e terza generazione. – 1.2.... more

SOMMARIO: 1. Lavoro autonomo e rivoluzione digitale: due iniziative governative. – 1.1. I ritardi del Welfare italiano: dalla Commissione D’Aragona (1947) al precariato e al lavoro autonomo di seconda e terza generazione. – 1.2. Rivoluzione digitale nella on-demand economy. – 1.3. Cenni su un dibattito giuslavoristico intorno a reddito e nuovo Welfare. – 2. Garanzie sociali universalistiche, a partire dalla lotta alla povertà: la questione sociale è costituente. – 2.1. La permanente assenza di un reddito minimo garantito: dagli anniversari della "Commissione Onofri” (1997) e “Commissione Carniti” (2007)... – 2.2. ...al ddl di contrasto della povertà assoluta (2016). – 2.3. La Repubblica dei diritti e della solidarietà: il reddito per un’esistenza libera e dignitosa. – 3. Reddito di base per tenere insieme innovazione tecnologica e inclusione sociale: un’utopia concreta per realisti.

This research explores social network site interaction through digital and gendered labor. Due to enhanced interaction possibilities as well as mining and analytic techniques, all digital interaction is labor, at both the social and... more

This research explores social network site interaction through digital and gendered labor. Due to enhanced interaction possibilities as well as mining and analytic techniques, all digital interaction is labor, at both the social and institutional level. Responses to a survey ( N = 455) suggest that digital labor varies depending on the most-used social network site. In addition, women test higher in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism, and contribute statistically more emotional labor online through liking and commenting. Women describe intricate processes of deciding whether they can or should socially interact, often fearing interpersonal conflict or being told they are stupid. Men, on the other hand, view social network sites as places for entertainment and base their emotional labor on some judged entertainment value. As such, this study illuminates how social network sites function as extensions of the home. Instead of being invited to contribute new cultural prod...

O capitalismo de plataformas constitui um modelo econômico no qual as plataformas digitais representam o elemento central. Integrado na evolução do trabalho, dos últimos 40 anos, caracterizada por um aumento da precarização, este modelo... more

O capitalismo de plataformas constitui um modelo econômico no qual as plataformas digitais representam o elemento central. Integrado na evolução do trabalho, dos últimos 40 anos, caracterizada por um aumento da precarização, este modelo acelerou as transformações sociais e econômicas, com importantes impactos tanto no trabalho quanto nas cidades. O exemplo talvez mais representativo é a Uber, da qual se gerou o conceito de uberização, o que representa o processo de desagregação do emprego em micro-tarefas simples e a redução da proteção no trabalho. Estas características podem ter uma relação com a informalidade do trabalho, contribuindo para uma sua difusão. O Brasil, apesar das suas diferenças internas, representa um caso paradigmático neste sentido, tanto porque é um país marcado historicamente por uma alta taxa de informalidade, quanto porque possui uma regulamentação avançada sobre a questão do Trabalho Decente: por exemplo, o Escritório da OIT no Brasil elaborou um Sistema de Indicadores Municipais de Trabalho Decente (SIMTD), através do qual construir uma base de dados a fim de desenvolver uma visão de conjunto da situação brasileira.
Através de uma revisão da literatura científica, o objetivo deste artigo será de analisar o impacto que a uberização exerce sobre o trabalho no contexto brasileiro, à luz das recentes alterações legislativas e face a normativa vigente do Trabalho Decente.

本書為極少數從政治經濟學的觀點思考「享樂」的「勞動本質」 出發；並提出應從勞動者的主體意識（subjectivity）來檢視後資本主 義社會裡的新宰制關係。這本書分成四大部分：第一、二部分的討論 偏結構面，分別探索勞力市場如何隨著網路科技崛起有了結構性變遷， 並依此批判了新的勞動形式與勞力剝削；第三與第四部分探索了在此框架下勞動者所有可能的能動性。評論者認為本書從新馬克斯主義的「虛假意識」（false consciousness）立場出發，仍有過度簡化之嫌；... more

本書為極少數從政治經濟學的觀點思考「享樂」的「勞動本質」
出發；並提出應從勞動者的主體意識（subjectivity）來檢視後資本主
義社會裡的新宰制關係。這本書分成四大部分：第一、二部分的討論
偏結構面，分別探索勞力市場如何隨著網路科技崛起有了結構性變遷，
並依此批判了新的勞動形式與勞力剝削；第三與第四部分探索了在此框架下勞動者所有可能的能動性。評論者認為本書從新馬克斯主義的「虛假意識」（false consciousness）立場出發，仍有過度簡化之嫌；
盼能從跨界勞動、勞動名聲與網絡社會等概念來檢視這種「類勞動關係」。

La parola crowdfunding è entrata nell’uso con tutto il vocabolario della sharing economy: un ripensamento strutturale dei rapporti tra economia e società imperniato sui concetti di collaborazione e condivisione. Analizzare l’innovativa... more

La parola crowdfunding è entrata nell’uso con tutto il vocabolario della sharing economy: un ripensamento strutturale dei rapporti tra economia e società imperniato sui concetti di collaborazione e condivisione. Analizzare l’innovativa modalità di raccolta fondi che si muove tra la folla e lo spazio della rete significa aprire una finestra sull’Italia che investe per uscire dalla crisi. Con un approccio sistematico e attento alla prospettiva globale, il volume disegna un quadro completo del fenomeno e di tutti gli ingredienti che entrano gioco abilitati dalle tecnologie della rete. I differenti modelli di crowdfunding e le norme che li regolano, le specificità delle piattaforme, la costruzione della proposta e del modello di business, la strategia digitale e il piano di marketing, la misurazione dei risultati e le relazioni con i sostenitori: ogni aspetto è spiegato, dal concepimento dell’idea alla chiusura della campagna. Oltre 50 case history si intrecciano alla trattazione, con consigli da seguire e richiami agli errori da evitare. I contenuti digitali integrativi ospitano approfondimenti, testimonianze dirette, documenti, suggerimenti operativi, link e infografiche di sintesi.

Scopo di questo articolo è verificare la materialità sociale della cosiddetta società dell’informazione e del capitalismo delle piattaforme, mostrando le contraddizioni tra capitale, lavoro e ambiente naturale. Per farlo, useremo la lente... more

Scopo di questo articolo è verificare la materialità sociale della cosiddetta società dell’informazione e del capitalismo delle piattaforme, mostrando le contraddizioni tra capitale, lavoro e ambiente naturale. Per farlo, useremo la lente delle filiere produttive delle materie prime alla base dei nuovi dispositivi elettronici, focalizzandoci su uno dei cosiddetti minerali insanguinati, cioè il coltan (columbite-tantalite). In un primo momento ci concentreremo sulle regioni minerarie del Kivu (Nord Kivu e Sud Kivu), nella Repubblica Democratica del Congo orientale: esse sono caratterizzate da una produzione mineraria prevalentemente di tipo artigianale (Artisanal and Small scale mining), in cui persistono numerose forme di coercizione extra-salariale a causa dell’attività
di numerosi gruppi paramilitari e della diffusa economia informale ed illegale. Successivamente, ci focalizzeremo sulla propagazione digitale per mostrare l’altro volto della materialità sociale della società dell’informazione e del capitalismo delle piattaforme. Dagli anni ’10 del XXI secolo ad oggi il numero di dispositivi elettronici portatili (smartphone, pc, ecc.), diventati centrali nelle interazioni della nostra vita quotidiana, è aumentato vertiginosamente. Il peso della crescente domanda è ricaduto sui lavoratori del Sud globale (e di paesi come la
Cina), i quali sono sottoposti a pressioni enormi e a ritmi lavorativi massacranti al fine di garantire la produzione dei dispositivi elettronici. Parimenti, l’impronta ecologica ha assunto forme sempre più marcate: oltre all’impatto ambientale dovuto alla produzione vera e propria e alla circolazione delle merci, vi è anche l’enorme consumo di energia elettrica necessario a mantenere operativi le infrastrutture informazionali alla base del capitalismo delle piattaforme.

The global dimension of recreational and professional uses of information and communication technologies makes them look universal and almost ahistorical. Aiming to reterritorialize globalized issues, this collection interrogates new... more

The global dimension of recreational and professional uses of information and communication technologies makes them look universal and almost ahistorical. Aiming to reterritorialize globalized issues, this collection interrogates new forms of digital labour as economic facts and as ideological justifications for the social order, both of which emerged in the United States. Digital Labour and Prosumer Capitalism features contributions from some of the leading theorists of value and labour in the digital age, as well as incisive case studies of swiping technologies, collaborative consumption, and convergent media. It explores the two core dynamics at the heart of digital work: tasks, or services, are broken down into components or modularized, and users work for no pay and become 'prosumer'. Placing digital labour and prosumption within the wider political economy, this volume presents a deeply contextualized critical account of the forces which shape contemporary subjects, networks, and work practices. The enrolment of consumers into production attempts to undermine labour rights, benefiting US digital corporations. Yet digital labour may ultimately challenge the capitalist logic, as user disregard for property rights extends from bits to atoms.

Il reddito di base tra crisi dell'istituzione salario ed emergenza del «digital labor» 303 1. Premessa: il reddito di base e la trasformazione della società capitalistica in senso post-salariale Negli ultimi anni tutta una serie di... more

Il reddito di base tra crisi dell'istituzione salario ed emergenza del «digital labor» 303 1. Premessa: il reddito di base e la trasformazione della società capitalistica in senso post-salariale Negli ultimi anni tutta una serie di dispositivi di redistribuzione del red-dito sono stati sperimentati in Italia e in molte altre realtà europee ed extraeuropee ottenendo risultati positivi e degni di attenzione 1. Inoltre e più specificatamente, molti studi e molte ricerche sono state dedicate ad approfondire il tema del Reddito di Base e a verificare gli esiti delle sue numerose esperienze applicative. Sullo sfondo degli inesorabili e preoc-cupanti processi di sperequazione della ricchezza 2 , la discussione pubbli-ca riguardante gli interventi rivolti al contrasto della crescente diffusione della povertà è stata quindi indubbiamente significativa e per molti versi anche feconda. Questa discussione però, diciamolo subito, è, a nostro pa-rere, in gran parte viziata da alcuni importanti limiti interpretativi che vorremmo cercare di evidenziare e quindi criticare in questo nostro con-tributo. In tal senso, vorremmo provare ad allargare il frame all'interno del quale la discussione sul Reddito di Base viene assunta e articolata nella letteratura specialistica e più largamente nel dibattito pubblico. In primo luogo, crediamo che la maggior parte delle riflessioni pro-dotte sull'argomento sconti un'analisi insufficiente delle trasformazioni del capitalismo contemporaneo, impedendo di cogliere e tenere presenti le novità fondamentali che si sono determinate all'interno del rapporto so-ciale di produzione vigente. Inoltre l'opportunità di promuovere politiche pubbliche sul Reddito di Base è stato per lo più discusso all'interno di uno scenario preoccupato di rendere «sostenibile» un modello di sviluppo,

Digital technologies are altering the nature of education work … not always for the best.

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The digital labour debate has produced manifold insights into new forms of work emerging within digital capitalism. So far, though, most research has focused on highly precarious labourers, neglecting the growing ranks of affluent 'tech... more

The digital labour debate has produced manifold insights into new forms of work emerging within digital capitalism. So far, though, most research has focused on highly precarious labourers, neglecting the growing ranks of affluent 'tech workers'. I argue that this analytical oversight can be attributed to a narrow con-ceptualisation of digital labour. Thus, this article first proposes a broadening of the digital labour concept to encompass all work entangled with the digital economy. In a second step, I demonstrate the heuristic surplus of this theoretical broadening through a discussion of the empirical literature on tech workers. By bringing tech workers into the debate, I point to the cultural, technological and organisational relations between high and low-paid digital labourers. Pursuing twin-aims, the article combines a theoretical reconsideration of digital labour with an analytical discussion of the literature on tech workers to provide a more relational account of work and class in digital capitalism.

Marking the 25th anniversary of the “digital divide,” we continue our metaphor of the digital inequality stack by mapping out the rapidly evolving nature of digital inequality using a broad lens. We tackle complex, and often unseen,... more

Marking the 25th anniversary of the “digital divide,” we continue our metaphor of the digital inequality stack by mapping out the rapidly evolving nature of digital inequality using a broad lens. We tackle complex, and often unseen, inequalities spawned by the platform economy, automation, big data, algorithms, cybercrime, cybersafety, gaming, emotional well-being, assistive technologies, civic engagement, and mobility. These inequalities are woven throughout the digital inequality stack in many ways including differentiated access, use, consumption, literacies, skills, and production. While many users are competent prosumers who nimbly work within different layers of the stack, very few individuals are “full stack engineers” able to create or recreate digital devices, networks, and software platforms as pure producers. This new frontier of digital inequalities further differentiates digitally skilled creators from mere users. Therefore, we document emergent forms of inequality that...

The digital revolution has not only transformed multiple aspects of social life – it also shakes sociological theory, transforming the most basic assumptions that have underlain it. In this timely book, Ori Schwarz explores the main... more

The digital revolution has not only transformed multiple aspects of social life – it also shakes sociological theory, transforming the most basic assumptions that have underlain it. In this timely book, Ori Schwarz explores the main challenges digitalization poses to different strands of sociological theory and offers paths to adapt them to new social realities. What would symbolic interactionism look like in a world where interaction no longer takes place within bounded situations and is constantly documented as durable digital objects? How should we understand new digitally mediated forms of human association that bind our actions and lives together but have little in common with old-time 'collectives'; and why are they not simply ‘social networks’? How does social capital transform when it is materialized in a digital form, and how does it remould power structures? What happens to our conceptualization of power when faced with the emergence of new forms of algorithmic power? And what happens when labour departs from work? By posing and answering such fascinating questions, and offering critical tools for both students and scholars of social theory and digital society to engage with them, this thought-provoking book draws the outline of future sociological theory for our digital society.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This ethnographic research-based course draws on interdisciplinary readings in communication, media studies, technology studies, sociology, marketing, and labor studies to offer a dynamic, critical view of the role of... more

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This ethnographic research-based course draws on interdisciplinary readings in communication, media studies, technology studies, sociology, marketing, and labor studies to offer a dynamic, critical view of the role of digital technology in transforming our economic lives. First, the class takes a historical look at how communication work has transformed in the modern era. We explore how the shift from an industrial to an information economy-and forces of globalization-have interacted to profoundly transform communication work. We will also analyze competing theories about digital labor and its social and cultural role in society, and we consider the unique role ethnographic research can play in capturing those social and cultural effects. Second, we analyze the rationales and economic pressures that motivate precarious digital workers, or "gig" workers who engage in work that is freelance, contracted, subcontracted or informalized, and does not provide formal benefits such as health insurance. Our focus will be on gig workers in the communication field, such as freelance journalists, fashion bloggers, Instagram "influencers", and semi-professional gamers. Finally, we will consider the ways in which globally dispersed digital communication technologies are contributing to a digital workforce divide, restructuring relations of power among communication workers and reshaping modern labor movements.

This essay, which is the fourth in a six-part series, introduces a short history, theoretical scope, and key thinkers of ‘digital labor’ debate that reformulates traditional distinction between production and consumption. Since Tiziana... more

This essay, which is the fourth in a six-part series, introduces a short history, theoretical scope, and key thinkers of ‘digital labor’ debate that reformulates traditional distinction between production and consumption. Since Tiziana Terranova’s seminal text Free labor in 2000, the issue of digital labor, in which consumption becomes productive activity, has become one of the hottest topics within media and cultural studies. These works question persistent discourse that sees the Internet as liberating and democratic media to argue that it instead allows capital to colonize our most private space and time rearticulating the power and inequality in ways unforeseeable a decade ago. This essay reviews some of the most representative texts in this genre and assesse their strengths and weaknesses. It concludes that Japan could offer fresh insights to this debate in terms of its distinctive social-media ecology, different uses and appropriation of global social media, and culturally specific ways in which such notion of labor, cooperation and/or reward are historically articulated in order to question some of the Eurocentric assumption implicit in this debate.

In this study, the concepts of free labour and digital labour are examined separately and their relationship addressed. The place of these concepts in the context of intangible labour will also be evaluated. Different concepts that have a... more

In this study, the concepts of free labour and digital labour are examined separately and their relationship addressed. The place of these concepts in the context of intangible labour will also be evaluated. Different concepts that have a different take on labour exploitation on social media and how they are turned into free labour will be discussed. In the last chapter, there will be a theoretical discussion on labour exploitation and commodification on social media, and how labour exploitation becomes widespread and profound via social media.

Laboring in the new economy has recently drawn tremendous social, legal, and political debate. The changes created by platform facilitated labor are considered fundamental challenges to the future of work and are generating contestation... more

Laboring in the new economy has recently drawn tremendous social, legal, and political debate. The changes created by platform facilitated labor are considered fundamental challenges to the future of work and are generating contestation regarding the proper classification of laborers as employees or independent contractors. Yet, despite this growing debate, attention to gender dimensions of such laboring is currently lacking. This Article considers the gendered promises and challenges that are associated with platform-facilitated labor, and provides an innovative empirical analysis of gender discrepancies in such labor; it conducts a case study of platform-facilitated labor using computational methods that capture some of the gendered interactions hosted by a digital platform. These empirical findings demonstrate that although women work for more hours on the platform, women’s average hourly rates are significantly lower than men’s, averaging about 2/3 (two-thirds) of men’s rates. Such gaps in hourly rates persist even after controlling for feedback score, experience, occupational category, hours of work, and educational attainment. These findings suggest we are witnessing the remaking of women into devalued workers. They point to the new ways in which sex inequality is occurring in platform-facilitated labor. They suggest that we are beholding a third generation of sex inequality, termed Discrimination 3.0, in which discrimination is no longer merely a function of formal barriers or even implicit biases. The article sketches Equality-by-Design (EbD) as a possible direction for future redress, through the enlisting of platform technology to enhance gender parity. In sum, this Article provides a crucial empirical base and analysis for understanding the new ways sex inequality is taking hold in platform-facilitated labor.

This article explores the temporal entanglements of care and precarity in Vietnam by unpacking the condition of “hectic slowness” experienced by mothers who sell food on Facebook against the widespread fear of dietary intoxication. Unlike... more

This article explores the temporal entanglements of care and precarity in Vietnam by unpacking the condition of “hectic slowness” experienced by mothers who sell food on Facebook against the widespread fear of dietary intoxication. Unlike the common association of “slowness” with an absence of activity, these trader-caregivers’ experience of “slowness” is defined by an overwhelming pressure of childcaring chores, casualized jobs, and intensified insecurities. At the center of this frantic inescapability is the caregiving “heart” [tâm] in the digital race, when a mother carries multiplied burdens while trying to move forward at the screen scrolling speed. Young mothers’ hectic slowness, however, is wired into an alternative temporality of the grandmothers, who effectively offer their care but remain largely out-of-sync with both the digital race and the stigma of “backwardness.” The continuities and mutations of precarized care across generations prove the need to learn from the long history of care agencies and vulnerabilities on the ground of the Global South.

Kemitraan dalam industri transportasi dan kurir online seperti di Gojek, Grab, Maxim, Shopee Ekspress, dan perusahaan platform sejenis di Indonesia, bersifat semu. Alih-alih menciptakan kebebasan dan kemerdekaan bagi para ojek online... more

Kemitraan dalam industri transportasi dan kurir online seperti di Gojek, Grab, Maxim, Shopee Ekspress, dan perusahaan platform sejenis di Indonesia, bersifat semu. Alih-alih menciptakan kebebasan dan kemerdekaan bagi para ojek online (ojol), hubungan kemitraan justru membuat para mitra atau pekerja gig mendapatkan hubungan kerja yang super-eksploitatif.

Combining platform studies with insights from research on petty capitalism and the political economy of the Chinese Internet, this article takes an integrated approach to analyze key moments in the historical evolution of the Chinese... more

Combining platform studies with insights from research on petty capitalism and the political economy of the Chinese Internet, this article takes an integrated approach to analyze key moments in the historical evolution of the Chinese e-commerce monopoly Alibaba since 1999. It argues for a dynamic model of technological and cultural transformations that treats platformization as a set of historically and culturally specific processes and relations constituted by constantly shifting and interacting forces. It finds that in the early days, Alibaba deployed platform mechanisms of participation and commodification to position itself as a democratic and participatory platform contra the deficient infrastructure of the state, while relying on foreign venture capital to keep the tensions of commodification at bay to prioritize market expansion. After Alibaba had achieved monopoly after the 2008 global crisis, it has formed more symbiotic relations with the state, ramping up mechanisms of datafication, selection, and commodification to more effectively extract the surplus value generated through the labor of platform-based petty capitalists. Platform-labor tensions intensified as Alibaba’s profit imperatives began to override its earlier promises of universal access and democratic participation.

Drawing on rich historical and ethnographic case studies, this book approaches key instances of the industrial and service economy—the legacy of Toyotism in today’s software industry, labor mediators in electronics manufacturing in... more

Drawing on rich historical and ethnographic case studies, this book approaches key instances of the industrial and service economy—the legacy of Toyotism in today’s software industry, labor mediators in electronics manufacturing in Central and Eastern Europe, and app-based food-delivery platforms in China—to push media and management studies in new directions. Media and Management offers a provocative insight on the future of labor and media that inevitably cross geographical boundaries.

Influencers are highly visible tastemakers who professionally publish content on social media platforms. In their work, influencers are tasked with reconciling their contradictory positioning they are both promoters of consumption, and... more

Influencers are highly visible tastemakers who professionally publish content on social media platforms. In their work, influencers are tasked with reconciling their contradictory positioning they are both promoters of consumption, and marshals of 'authentic' sociality and community. Influencers thus organize their social world in ways that enable them to justify moving between two contradictory poles of commerciality and authenticity. In this paper, we argue that these navigations necessitate "influencer imaginaries". This concept was drawn from, first, in-depth interviews with 35 Chilean social media influencers, and second, from participant observation with advertising agencies who hire them. The influencer "imaginary" sheds light on how individuals experience and justify the commodification of the self and forms of knowledge as subject to valuation in markets when they communicate their brands. Thus, the imaginary was shown to emerge from three intertwined narratives: to resolve information asymmetries in markets; differentiate influencers from celebrities and advertisers as average people; and negotiate self definition with regard to agencies, audiences, and themselves.

we argue that there are four ways we both understand and misunderstand fake news as a research concept. This includes seeing fake news as text rather than visual content; as either “true” or “false” information rather than as facts... more

we argue that there are four ways we both understand and misunderstand fake news as a research concept. This includes seeing fake news as text rather than visual content; as either “true” or “false” information rather than as facts embedded within narratives; as surface level content rather than being produced within institutional processes; and from a “Western-centric” lens rather than from a comparative context. As we will argue in our conclusion, these foci make connecting empirical work on fake news to larger media theories of visibility and surveillance more difficult. In particular, they make it harder to connect questions of fake news to sociologies of scandal and the public sphere. In the second section, we attempt to address each of these critiques by outlining elements of our research on fake news production in the Philippines, which was selected insofar as it provides a non-European case of a phenomenon the discussion of which is usually confined to the industrialized West and which serves as a launching pad for engaging in larger meta-theoretical reflection. In the third and final section, the chapter returns to the initial conversation about the media and scandal and discusses how these different frameworks for considering fake news shed light on the relationship between scandal and the media.

The field of disinformation studies remains relatively silent about questions of identity, motivation, labor, and morality. Drawing from a one-year ethnographic study of disinformation producers employed in digital black ops campaigns in... more

The field of disinformation studies remains relatively silent about questions of identity, motivation, labor, and morality. Drawing from a one-year ethnographic study of disinformation producers employed in digital black ops campaigns in the Philippines, this article proposes that approaches from production studies can address gaps in disinformation research. We argue that approaching disinformation as a culture of production opens inquiry into the social conditions that entice people to this work and the creative industry practices that normalize fake news as a side gig. This article critically reflects on the methodological risks and opportunities of ethnographic research that subverts expectations of the exceptionally villainous troll and instead uses narratives of creative workers’ complicity and collusion to advance holistic social critique and local-level disinformation interventions.

Content moderation is the organized practice of screening user-generated content (UGC) posted to Internet sites, social media and other online outlets, in order to determine the appropriateness of the content for a given site, locality,... more

Content moderation is the organized practice of screening user-generated content (UGC) posted to Internet sites, social media and other online outlets, in order to determine the appropriateness of the content for a given site, locality, or jurisdiction. The process can result in UGC being removed by a moderator, acting as an agent of the platform or site in question. Increasingly, social media platforms rely on massive quantities of UGC data to populate them and to drive user engagement; with that increase has come the need for platforms and sites to enforce their rules and relevant or applicable laws, as the posting of inappropriate content is considered a major source of liability.

This article examines how taxi drivers adapt to, manipulate and fight against the rise of ride-hailing platforms like Didi Chuxing in China (which purchased Uber China). Chinese taxi drivers entered the on-demand labour platforms before... more

This article examines how taxi drivers adapt to, manipulate and fight against the rise of ride-hailing platforms like Didi Chuxing in China (which purchased Uber China). Chinese taxi drivers entered the on-demand labour platforms before private car drivers. Based on a nationwide data survey, the article argues that the technological power of Didi took shape by reinforcing inequalities facing informally employed taxi drivers prior to the emergence of ride-hailing apps. Drivers, far from being passive app users, have counteracted the changes in the work environment that resulted from platformisation in new and evolving ways, from strikes to algorithmic activism. This study suggests that online platforms are contested spaces where digital labour politics penetrate beyond the purported algorithmic power of the technology. The article enriches researches on on-demand labour by deconstructing the distinction between taxi drivers and private gig drivers and by pointing to the unfolding new grounds for digital labour activism.

This article develops the critical concept of digital utility through a case study of DiDi Chuxing and the platformization of transport services in urban China. Examining DiDi's business model, its datafication strategies, relations with... more

This article develops the critical concept of digital utility through a case study of DiDi Chuxing and the platformization of transport services in urban China. Examining DiDi's business model, its datafication strategies, relations with Chinese government, and labor management systems, the article demonstrates how the platformization of transport is emblematic of a private internet company becoming a digital utility provider. Full of promises and pitfalls, this process re-mediates service-delivery while reworking infrastructures and redefining access to public and private services. We argue, platform companies' capacity to straddle the public and the private, their aspiration to be "ecosystem-builder," and their heavy reliance on constant intensive labor from users (particularly drivers in this case) to produce data are the reasons why they can become digital utility suppliers; which is also why instability is a definitive feature of digital utility companies in their present shape. Morphing into the terrain of utilities is a common undertaking by DiDi and similar platform companies. Problematizing the logics of digital utility, especially its labor-intensive datafication processes and its complex relations with the regulators, offers a conceptual anchor for further debates on the infrastructuralization of platforms and platformization of society.

The article examines the role of social media groups for online freelance workers in the Philippines—digital workers obtaining “gigs” from online labor platforms such as Upwork and Onlinejobs.ph—for social facilitation and collective... more

The article examines the role of social media groups for online freelance workers in the Philippines—digital workers obtaining “gigs” from online labor platforms such as Upwork and Onlinejobs.ph—for social facilitation and collective organizing. The article first problematizes labor marginality in the context of online freelance platform workers situated in the middle of competing narratives of precarity and opportunity. We then examine unique forms of solidarity emerging from social media groups formed by these geographically spread digital workers. Drawing from participant observation in online freelance Facebook groups, as well as interviews and focus groups with 31 online freelance workers located in the cities of Manila, Cebu, and Davao, we found that online Filipino freelancers maintain active social interaction and exchange that can be construed as “entrepreneurial solidarities.” These solidarities are characterized by competing discourses of ambiguity, precarity, opportunity...

What work is turning into has become a common question. The answers range from the claim that nothing is changing to fears of robots taking jobs and a utopia of fully automated luxury socialism. To compare a variety of emerging jobs, I... more

What work is turning into has become a common question. The answers range from the claim that nothing is changing to fears of robots taking jobs and a utopia of fully automated luxury socialism. To compare a variety of emerging jobs, I examine four theses that have been put forward. One is that work is becoming increasingly insecure, short-term, precarious. Another is that forms of work are multiplying, especially what is called flexible employment. A third is that work is becoming increasingly digital, governed by an economy of automated algorithms, platforms and social networks. Finally, I examine the claim that work itself has been overcome, that the conventional pay for productive labour is giving way to a variety of redistributive schemes. What those theses share, I argue, is a tension between claims of emancipation and realities of exploitation, the sense of new possibilities opening up and others closing down. Economic anthropology has the tools to address this mix of freedom and constraint, commitment and alienation.

This article examines the labor power of digital miners. Though an obscure and still incipient facet of the digital economy, crypto-mining powers and secures transactions across blockchains, or public distributed digital ledgers. Drawing... more

This article examines the labor power of digital miners. Though an obscure and still incipient facet of the digital economy, crypto-mining powers
and secures transactions across blockchains, or public distributed digital ledgers. Drawing from interviews with cryptocurrency enthusiasts, blockchain advocates, and developers; participation in online and offline discussions; and a survey with small-scale crypto-miners, this article takes on the material and technoscientific valuation of crypto-mining to understand how a future of open, decentralized accountability implicates human labor alongside automated processes. The work of digital mining, performed in the work of inscribing, registering, and politically organizing mining operations, enables the formation of democratic communities in the digital economy and remains inevitably embedded in social relations as a mode of productive, meaningful action.

Ekonomi gig, sebagai bentuk ekonomi yang menekankan pada upah berdasarkan jumlah barang/jasa yang diselesaikan, kini semakin banyak diperbincangkan. Di satu sisi, banyak yang menyanjung ekonomi gig sebagai ekonomi masa depan, karena telah... more

Ekonomi gig, sebagai bentuk ekonomi yang menekankan pada upah berdasarkan jumlah barang/jasa yang diselesaikan, kini semakin banyak diperbincangkan. Di satu sisi, banyak yang menyanjung ekonomi gig sebagai ekonomi masa depan, karena telah mampu menyerap jutaan tenaga kerja, memberi mereka fleksibilitas, dan menunjang pertumbuhan ekonomi. Namun di sisi lain, ekonomi gig telah berkontribusi pada kerentanan kerja, karena ketiadaan perlindungan sosial dan kepastian pendapatan bagi para pekerjanya. Kerentanan tersebut memungkinkan untuk terjadi, karena mereka diklasifikasikan sebagai kontraktor independen dengan hubungan kemitraan, bukan hubungan kerja buruh-pengusaha. Dampaknya, pekerja gig menjadi belum menikmati perlindungan kerja berupa upah minimum, jam kerja 40 jam/minggu, hak berserikat, hak libur, dan jaminan sosial sebagaimana yang diterima pekerja dalam hubungan kerja buruh-pengusaha. Sementara itu, hubungan kemitraan berjalan dengan tidak adil, karena setiap keputusan dilakukan sepihak oleh perusahaan platform, sehingga merugikan pekerja gig. Dalam buku ini, kami mengurai persoalan yang terjadi dalam ekonomi gig di Indonesia. Buku ini menyajikan analisis tentang belum tercapainya kondisi kerja layak dan adil bagi pekerja gig, baik yang bekerja sebagai pengemudi ojek online, kurir, musisi, buruh jahit, dan pekerja kreatif. Persoalan tersebut dianalisis dari kacamata yang beragam, dari pendekatan ekonomi politik, regulasi, budaya kritis, hingga kekuasaan. Buku ini menjadi bacaan awal yang penting untuk memahami beragam persoalan di ekonomi gig dan bagaimana untuk mendorong terwujudnya kerja layak dan adil bagi pekerja gig.

This study, titled ‘Digital labor quality and news quality in Turkish digital mainstream media,’ examines the concepts of ‘news quality’ and ‘digital labor,’ which has been a topic of discussion in digital mainstream media in Turkey in... more

This study, titled ‘Digital labor quality and news quality in Turkish digital mainstream media,’ examines the concepts of ‘news quality’ and ‘digital labor,’ which has been a topic of discussion in digital mainstream media in Turkey in recent years. During the research, findings were obtained through in-depth interviews. This study also seeks to shed light on the attitudes of digital journalists producing news. How do journalists use multimedia tools, how do they see the design of news homepages, how do they evaluate fake news, how do they use social media for work, how they make certain their digital reports are up-to-date, how do they refer to other news organizations in their articles, how much do they care about impartiality, how much do they care about ratings, how do they produce exclusive news, what are their career expectations, when are their days off and breaks during a day, news publishing count and transportation to work issues of digital journalists tried to be understood. In this context, in depth interviews were conducted with ten journalists from five mainstream digital news organizations. The selection of digital journalists in this research was based on literature. In depth interviews were conducted under fifteen titles. On the other hand, at the end of this research, it observed that digital mainstream media in Turkey has some issues giving proper attribution to other news organizations for their work, exclusive news producing, clickbait headlines related to advertisement models and correcting mistakes in the fake news.

Résumé : Basées aux USA mais mondialisées de par leurs activités, fortement financiarisées et porteuses de l’« idéologie californienne », ces multinationales que sont Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon et Microsoft constituent un oligopole... more

This article continues previous work that analysed the case of America Online (AOL) volunteers from critical perspectives of immaterial and free labor, and incorporates newly acquired documents and interviews by the United States... more

This article continues previous work that analysed the case of
America Online (AOL) volunteers from critical perspectives of immaterial and
free labor, and incorporates newly acquired documents and interviews by the
United States Department of Labor (DOL) with volunteers. Specifically, this
article puts forth the AOL volunteers’ case as an instance of co-production that eventually met its demise when organizational changes resulted in the rise of a labor consciousness among some volunteers that made the ongoing relationship impossible. This article shows the types of co-productive labor that took place during the height of the AOL/volunteer relationship and the structures put in
place to help AOL harness the power of a free distributed workforce. The research posits that the success of the co-productive relationship was a function of a balance between a numbers of elements: (1) the perceived reasonable compensation on the part of volunteers, (2) social factors and attitudes towards work such as a sense of community, creativity, and (3) a sense of accomplishment.

In Italia si è ormai consolidata l'idea che l'innovazione digitale debba passare per il modello startup/venture capital di origine Californiana. È dalla metà degli anni Novanta che il termine startup circola nelle discussioni... more

In Italia si è ormai consolidata l'idea che l'innovazione digitale debba passare per il modello startup/venture capital di origine Californiana. È dalla metà degli anni Novanta che il termine startup circola nelle discussioni sull'innovazione nel nostro paese, e nel ultimo decennio è diventato il modello dominante in assoluto. Da visioni per 'l'industria 4.0' al decreto crescita del governo Conte, passando per iniziative per valorizzare quartieri in degrado e contrastare la disoccupazione giovanile, 'investire in start-up' è diventato parte del senso comune di gramsciana memoria. Ma ha senso investire in startup? Quanto funziona l'ecosistema startup in Italia? Quanto è in grado di generare ricchezza e crescita? Quanto corrisponde il senso comune alla realtà?

Esta dissertação tem como tema as formas mais recentes de trabalho precário, como o trabalho em plataformas digitais e o trabalho intermitente. Os objetivos desse trabalho são: contribuir com a investigação acerca do trabalho em... more

Esta dissertação tem como tema as formas mais recentes de trabalho precário, como o trabalho em plataformas digitais e o trabalho intermitente. Os objetivos desse trabalho são: contribuir com a investigação acerca do trabalho em plataforma digital e do trabalho intermitente, a partir do materialismo dialético, que permite compreender os fenômenos sociais na sua totalidade e no seu desenvolvimento histórico, e proporcionar elementos teóricos que contribuam para a formulação das reivindicações dos trabalhadores por melhores condições de vida e trabalho. É feito um resgate da discussão sobre salário por peça e por hora no volume I de “O Capital”, em Marx, e comparadas as suas características com o trabalho em plataformas digitais, a partir do resultado de um questionário aplicado com 87 entregadores, e com o trabalho intermitente, a partir de uma análise de dados da Relação Anual de Informações Sociais (Rais) e do Novo Cadastro Geral de Empregados e Desempregados (Novo Caged). Em um segundo momento, é feita uma discussão sobre as mudanças nas formas de remuneração ao longo do século XX e início do XXI, identificando elementos que corroboram com a hipótese da reintrodução do salário por peça e por hora, como forma de pagamento. Como conclusão, sugere-se que as reformas trabalhistas sinalizam um momento de transição de uma forma de remuneração para outra. Conclui-se que houve, de forma inequívoca, uma diminuição do nível de proteção ao emprego, na última década, e piora das condições de trabalho dos empregados formais. Observa-se um crescimento dos vínculos de trabalho precários, em detrimento dos vínculos estáveis. Há uma prevalência das longas jornadas, no caso dos trabalhadores em plataformas digitais, e de jornadas parciais, no caso dos trabalhadores intermitentes. Foi possível constatar ainda um alto nível de consciência política entre os trabalhadores em plataformas digitais, reconhecendo esse trabalho como uma escravidão ou semiescravidão e, prevalece uma divisão de opiniões entre os entregadores em relação à adoção da Carteira de Trabalho.

This study examines a copycat culture called Shanzhai, particularly looking into fashion imitations made and circulated by a group of women designers through digital media. It investigates the cultural transformation of labor taking place... more

This study examines a copycat culture called Shanzhai, particularly looking into fashion imitations made and circulated by a group of women designers through digital media. It investigates the cultural transformation of labor taking place in China through the critical lens of precarious creativity. Women designers perform digital labor to de-fetishize the labor process of global fashion brands, which mythicizes class and commodity. These women’s fashion work lacks official recognition as meaningful labor, rendering them vulnerable to being policed, condemned, and regulated, while their ability to make a case for the legitimacy of their work is further diminished when the state co-opts Shanzhai to fit it into its nation-building narratives. These women’s experiences of precarity and their very act of copying reveal the simultaneous possibility and impossibility of the Chinese Dream.

The article examines the role of social media groups for online freelance workers in the Philippines—digital workers obtaining “gigs” from online labor platforms such as Upwork and Onlinejobs.ph—for social facilitation and collective... more

The article examines the role of social media groups for online freelance workers in the Philippines—digital workers obtaining “gigs” from online labor platforms such as Upwork and Onlinejobs.ph—for social facilitation and collective organizing. The article first problematizes labor marginality in the context of online freelance platform workers situated in the middle of competing narratives of precarity and opportunity. We then examine unique forms of solidarity emerging from social media groups formed by these geographically spread digital workers. Drawing from participant observation in online freelance Facebook groups, as well as interviews and focus groups with 31 online freelance workers located in the cities of Manila, Cebu, and Davao, we found that online Filipino freelancers maintain active social interaction and exchange that can be construed as “entrepreneurial solidarities.” These solidarities are characterized by competing discourses of ambiguity, precarity, opportunity, and adaptation that are articulated and visualized through ambient socialities. While we argue that these entrepreneurial solidarities do not reflect a passive and simplistic acceptance of neoliberal discourses about digital labor by digital workers, the solidarities forged in these groups also work to undermine their resistive potential such that these tend to reinforce rather than impose pressure toward critical structural changes that can improve the viability of digital labor conditions.

With access to data communication networks and the prevalence of informal work, workers in the global South are rapidly inching closer to confronting the impact of automated or digitally enabled non-standard employment. What are the... more

With access to data communication networks and the prevalence of informal work, workers in the global South are rapidly inching closer to confronting the impact of automated or digitally enabled non-standard employment. What are the social and political responses required to face this shifting engagement with the means of automated production and the experience of digital work mediated through privately owned global technology platforms? By examining India's job market, with a focus on the country's information technology (IT) industry, this chapter assesses whether the International Labour Organization's (ilo) focus on labour rights and social protection is suited to addressing the potential for capital-labour substitution and the new ecosystem of software-mediated work. The chapter suggests a new engagement with digital labour, closer scrutiny of unregulated working conditions, and democratic control over tech-enabled digital platforms.

Digital labour platforms have become important sites of negotiation between expressions of micro-entrepreneurship, worker freedom and dignity of work. In the Global South, these negotiations are overlaid on an already fraught relationship... more

Digital labour platforms have become important sites of negotiation between expressions of micro-entrepreneurship, worker freedom and dignity of work. In the Global South, these negotiations are overlaid on an already fraught relationship mediated by the dynamics of caste and culture, to the usual politics of difference. Urban Company (UC), an app-based, on-demand platform in India that connects service providers offering home-based services to potential customers, lists professionalised services that have hitherto been considered part of a ‘culture of servitude’, performed by historically marginalised groups afforded little dignity of labour. Such platforms offer the possibility of disrupting the entrenched ‘master-servant’ relationship that exists in many traditional cultures in the Global South by their ostensibly professional approach. While service providers now have the opportunity for self-employment and gain ‘respectability’ by being associated with the platform, UC claims to have leveraged AI to automate discipline in everything the providers do. Using interviews with UC women service providers involved in beauty work and software development engineers, this paper explores the agency afforded to service partners in both professional and personal spheres. Further, we propose the term blended cultures to think about the ways in which algorithms and human cultures mutually (re)make each other.