Digital Labor

Digital Labor examines the economics, politics, and experiences of workers in new modes of employment, such as unpaid user activity, platform-mediated gig work, and formal employment within the digital media industries. It critically examines the structures of exploitation, the organization of the labor process, the dynamics of alienation, and the commodification of workers' lives. It offers insight into the nature of work as it is being reconstituted in digital capitalism and is suitable for students and scholars of media and communication, sociology, labor studies, and anyone interested in emerging forms of work.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 24 June 2022
Publisher: Polity Press

While 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 delves into 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 organization 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.

Synthesizing 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, labor studies, and anyone interested in emerging forms of work.

Weight: 448g
Dimension: 222 x 149 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509545193