Description
Book SynopsisWhile the working lives of tech entrepreneurs and delivery platform workers seem far removed, both are engaged in digital labor. What unites their experience and allows us to speak of their work under the same umbrella? Is it even possible to talk about digital labor as if it were a single form of work?
Digital Labor explores these questions and critically examines the economics, politics, and experiences of workers in these new modes of employment. Using a novel definition of the term "digital labor," Kylie Jarrett explores unpaid user activity, platform-mediated gig work, and formal employment within the digital media industries, mapping the common features of these varied practices. Applying a critical Marxian lens, the book interrogates the structures of exploitation in this sector, the organisation of the labor process, the dynamics of alienation associated with this work, and the commodification of workers' lives. It also documents the struggle of digital laborers to resist the iniquities and inequalities of their working environments. Ultimately, the book identifies what is specific about this form of labor and, in doing so, offers insight into the nature of work as it is being reconstituted in digital capitalism.
Synthesising an extensive range of studies and sources, Digital Labor offers a comprehensive overview – and a rich critical appraisal – of work in the high-tech economy. It is suitable for students and scholars of media and communication, sociology, labour studies, and anyone interested in emerging forms of work.
Trade Review"Kylie Jarrett provides a profound and indispensable analysis of digital labor. The book is an absolute must-read for everyone wanting to understand how labor has changed in the digital age."
—Christian Fuchs, author of Digital Labour and Karl Marx
"In this clear-eyed, crisp meditation on the meaning of 'digital labor', renowned feminist media scholar Kylie Jarrett delivers a cogent, necessary intervention in what counts as work and value in a digital world."
—Mary L. Gray, co-author of Ghost Work
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
1 Defining Digital Labor
2 Exploitation: Digital Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
3 Process: Of Autonomy and Algorithms
4 Alienation: The Romance of Entrepreneurialism
5 Commodification: Affective Attachment and Inalienable Assets
6 Struggle: The Workers United(ish)
7 Conclusion: Digital Labor on the Edge
Bibliography
Index
