Theorizing Work in the Contemporary Platform Economy

Kovalainen, Anne; Vallas, Steven P.; Poutanen, Seppo

doi:10.4324/9780429467929-3

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…Labor platforms are usually characterized by a few set features, often defining themselves as intermediaries linking platform workers looking for work with customers looking for easy solutions. There are relatively low entry barriers on most platforms and they often offer flexibility to individual platform workers in terms of free choice of hours and work organization (Kovalainen et al 2019;Vallas & Schor 2020). The platforms operate digitally, meaning that the relationship between customer, worker, and platform is primarily handled through internet applications and mobile devices, often governed by algorithms.…”

Section: Digital Labor Platformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…he emergence and spread of digitally mediated labor has been addressed as one of the major drivers in transforming the nature of work in the present as well as the future (Berg et al 2018;Healy et al 2017). Digital labor platforms such as Uber and Upwork are changing fundamental conceptions of the labor market; work is redefined as 'gigs', employees are often replaced with self-employed, management is governed by algorithms, and social contact is mediated through digital apps (Kovalainen et al 2019;Vallas & Schor, 2020). What these changes entail for the future of work remains unclear, but they are undoubtedly challenging work organization and existing labor market structures.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Hybrid Work Patterns: A Latent Class Analysis of Platform Workers in Denmark

Kristiansen

Larsen²,

Ilsøe³

2022

NJWLS

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This paper presents a novel approach for studying differences and similarities among platform workers, by taking into account the wider labor market position of platform workers. Analytically, we seek inspiration from literature on labor market segmentation (SLM) and multiple jobholding (MJH) to nuance the often-dichotomized view of labor markets characterized by SLM theory. By using survey data from a set of additional questions tied to the Danish LFS, we apply latent class analysis models to discover patterns of labor market divisions among platform workers in Denmark. We identify three major groups of platform workers, and while all of them have multiple income sources, they have very different labor market positions in the traditional labor market. We categorize them as ‘established workers’, ‘transitional workers’, and ‘new labor market entrants’. These divisions point to marked differences among platform workers, implying that platform work is characterized by varying blends of labor market hybridity.

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Section: Digital Labor Platformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid Work Patterns: A Latent Class Analysis of Platform Workers in Denmark

Kristiansen

Larsen²,

Ilsøe³

2022

NJWLS

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“…(Kovalainen, Vallas, Poutanen 2020: 5) The definitions of platform providers are manifold. From microtasking platforms and creative competitions to simply intermediate work and workers (Kovalainen, Vallas, Poutanen 2020).…”

Section: Platform Economy Digital Workplaces and Gender Inequalitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Relations at the Digitalised Workplace: The Interrelation Between Digitalisation, Gender, and Work

Kohlrausch¹,

Weber²

2021

GV/GR

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Innovative leaps in digital technology alongside changing gender roles in society may open a window of opportunity to renegotiate gendered work patterns. The main question addressed in this article is the extent to which digitalisation holds the potential to reorganise gendered work relations, and if so why. First, we elaborate on the interrelation between work and gender in capitalist societies. Our main argument is that digitalisation is shifting the boundaries between paid and unpaid labour with far-reaching repercussions for women and men. Second, we will identify core digitalisation processes capable of overcoming or changing gendered work patterns. These include automation, the platform economy, and the interactive processes by which a value is assigned to work. We discuss these three processes and their implications for gender inequalities by means of examples based on current literature.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite their foci on power and control in the digital infrastructures, existing studies tend to overemphasise the roles of individual platforms, skill complexity of tasks and digital devices (Kovalainen et al, 2019; Schor et al, 2020), risking skill-centricism and technological determinism. Instead, gigification and platformisation could be deemed as the two main social processes driven by the new mode of work (Felix, 2020; Kovalainen et al, 2019; Veen et al, 2020b). Gigification refers to the increasing fragmentation of work tasks in the light of outsourced crowdsourcing, in which gig workers’ status is ‘gigified’ as on-demand independent contractors, with fissured employment relations (Veen et al, 2020b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutions, Occupations and Connectivity: The Embeddedness of Gig Work and Platform-Mediated Labour Market in Hong Kong

Au‐Yeung¹,

Qiu

2022

Critical Sociology

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Informed by the economic sociology of work, this qualitative study employs a dynamic and multi-dimensional notion of embeddedness to critique the social bases of gig work and the platform-mediated labour market, with a series of embedding, disembedding and re-embedding forces. Conducting in-depth interviews with 24 gig workers, the findings reveal how gig work is incorporated into Hong Kong’s labour market and the ways in which gig work is reshaping the power of workers via digital platforms. First, gig work is institutionally embedded in a policy framework centred on weak regulation and protection, resulting in platforms’ expandable and retractable control over labour. Second, gig work is embedded in occupational norms and professional practices, in which workers practise multi-platforming and marketplace resistance when defending their interests. Finally, the embedded connectivity of gig work boosts the scalability of labour market competition but engenders algorithmic opacity. The marketplace bargaining power of gig workers is twofold: workers’ dependence on platforms and their working status. Hence, the embeddedness of gig work and platforms is far from stable but involves new tensions that challenge the gigification and platformisation of work.

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Theorizing Work in the Contemporary Platform Economy

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Hybrid Work Patterns: A Latent Class Analysis of Platform Workers in Denmark

Hybrid Work Patterns: A Latent Class Analysis of Platform Workers in Denmark

Gender Relations at the Digitalised Workplace: The Interrelation Between Digitalisation, Gender, and Work

Institutions, Occupations and Connectivity: The Embeddedness of Gig Work and Platform-Mediated Labour Market in Hong Kong

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