Work and Labor in the Digital Age: (33 Research in the Sociology of Work)

This volume presents the most recent studies of work and labor in the digital age as it unfolds in both Europe and the United States.   One of the critical questions facing modernity concerns the reconfiguration of paid employment, which has been subject to wholesale changes that have widespread consequences for workers, their families, and the institutional structure that characterizes capitalist societies. A key driver of these changes has been the digital revolution and the rapid proliferation of the gig economy. Together with social network sites for hiring, the spread of robotics, and the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, they leave virtually no occupation untouched.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Taking Stock of the Digital Revolution; Steven P. Vallas and Anne Kovalainen Chapter 1. Work and Value Creation in the Platform Economy; Martin Kenney and John Zysman Chapter 2. Technology-Driven Task Replacement and the Future of Employment; Jerry A. Jacobs and Rachel Karen Chapter 3. Platforms at Work: Automated Hiring Platforms and Other New Intermediaries in the Organization of Work; Ifeoma Ajunwa and Daniel Greene Chapter 4. Black Holes and Purple Squirrels: A Tale of Two Online Labor Markets; Steve McDonald, Amanda K. Damarin, Jenelle Lawhorne, and Annika Wilcox Chapter 5. Brave New Digital Work? New Forms of Performance Control in Crowdwork; Martin Krzywdzinkski and Christine Gerber  Chapter 6. Labor Market Inclusion Through Predatory Capitalism? The 'Sharing Economy', Diversity, and the Crisis of Social Reproduction in the Belgian Coordinated Market economy; Patrizia Zanoni Chapter 7. Work-Games in the Gig-Economy: A Case Study of Uber Drivers in the City of Monterrey, Mexico; Mariana Manriquez

About the Author :
Steven P. Vallas is Professor of Sociology at Northeastern University in Boston, USA. He has written widely on the tensions and contradictions that often accompany the transformation of work and paid employment under contemporary capitalism. He is the author of Power in the Workplace: The Politics of Production at AT&T and Work: A Critique. His work has been published in the leading journals within sociology. He recently co-edited Precarious Work: Causes, Characteristics and Consequences (with Arne Kalleberg). Anne Kovalainen is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the School of Economics, University of Turku, Finland. Her research lies at the intersection of economic institutions, self-employment, and gender. She is interested in the social and societal aspects of economic life, gender as a theoretical concept, and knowledge formation, both in society and in sciences. She has held international fellowships at Stanford University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.