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Open Access 2024 | Open Access | Buch

Capitalism in the Platform Age

Emerging Assemblages of Labour and Welfare in Urban Spaces

herausgegeben von: Sandro Mezzadra, Niccoló Cuppini, Mattia Frapporti, Maurilio Pirone

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buchreihe : Springer Studies in Alternative Economics

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This open access book provides an overview of urban digital platforms such as Airbnb and Deliveroo, which, along with Amazon, Google, Facebook, and other IT companies, constitute by now the infrastructures for other businesses to operate on and for our social life to go on. These platforms serve as standards-based techno-economic systems that simultaneously capture cooperation through remote coordination and organize labor via algorithm management.

Based on a three-years research project, this contributed book outlines a general theory of platform capitalism that conceives these platforms not only as technical devices, but as generative engines that operate at the interface of several aspects, such as digitalization of forms of social cooperation; algorithm-based management of labor and participation; and private and vertical appropriation of profits. These elements are somehow iconic of the capitalist evolution of the last decades, and they open up a reflection on new forms of “primitive accumulation” (in particular regarding data), on the mechanisms used to capture and extract social surplus value, and on the logistic-financial dimensions of capital. Finally, in light of the transformations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors examine how platforms can evolve into hegemonic organizational structures.

Assuming we are all already living in the age of the platform, this book takes a multifaceted approach—combining sociology with urban studies, and political sciences with economics—to grasp the challenges our societies face in terms of ensuring fair economic growth, adequate social protections, and labor rights. It will appeal to anyone interested in digital platforms and how they are changing the organization of labor, urban spaces, and forms of governance.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Theoretical Foundations

Frontmatter

Open Access

Introduction. The Platform Age
Abstract
This two-part work brings together the outcomes of the Horizon 2020 Project PLUS, “Platform Labor in Urban Spaces”. Running from December 2018 to March 2022, which included an extension from December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this research project investigated the main features and dimensions of the impact of digital platforms on the economy and society, with a specific focus on labour, urban transformations, and welfare. Sixteen partners, including universities, research centres, and cooperatives, investigated the operations of four digital platforms (AirBnb, Deliveroo, Helpling, and Uber) in seven European cities (Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Lisbon, London, Paris, and Tallin). The research involved, in different ways, municipalities, independent researchers, platform managers, and established grassroot unions. The fact that the four abovementioned platforms operate in diverse fields—accommodation, food delivery, domestic labour, and transport—has allowed us to carry out a wide-ranging analysis of the rapid spread of digital platforms across the economy and society.
Niccolò Cuppini, Mattia Frapporti, Sandro Mezzadra, Maurilio Pirone

Open Access

Operations of Platforms. A Global Process in a Multipolar World
Abstract
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has engendered a crisis of mobility whose multiple dimensions have affected the movement of people and “stuff,” border regimes and logistical supply chains, the daily life of people in many parts of the world and the organization of labor. In such a conjuncture, digital platforms have emerged as key devices to manage the crisis, in such diverse fields as communication, food delivery, and e-commerce. The booming profits and stock exchange value of companies operating in such fields have been defining features of the economic implications of the pandemic conjuncture, while platforms have become increasingly visible in public discourse. Accordingly, digital platforms have come to figure prominently among those “systems underpinning social and economic life” whose maintenance and reproduction played a key role in defining “essential labor” during lockdowns in different parts of the world. The connection between platforms and mobility management has been apparent in the pandemic conjuncture, while new forms of risk and new hierarchies emerged between people who were often compelled to risk contagion to provide services and people who were allowed to work from home and could do that also due to those services. Working at the intersection between the domains of circulation and social reproduction, the operations of platforms prompt significant mutations of capital and labor, which deserve a detailed investigation. At the same time the chapter follows the call to “de-Westernize platform studies” and connects processes of platformization of capital and labor with the turbulent emergence of a multipolar world (with a specific attention paid to China).
Sandro Mezzadra, Brett Neilson

Open Access

The Process of Valorization in the Platform Capitalism
Abstract
In this essay, I use two different words to express the concept of productive human activity. The first is the Latin term ‘labor’, whose etymology means ‘pain’, ‘punishment’, ‘torture’, ‘suffering’. The second one is the term ‘opus’, again from Latin, which means creative activity that unleashes the human being’s capacity for doing and thinking. The concept of ‘labor’ is assimilable to the Marxian concept of ‘abstract labour’, it is the human activity that produces ‘exchange value’ and is the pivot around which capitalistic wealth creation evolves. By contrast, the concept of ‘opus’ is assimilable to the Marxian concept of ‘concrete labour’, able to produce ‘use value’ for the immediate satisfaction of human needs and dreams. In the capitalist system of production, ‘labour’ is remunerated and codified since it is considered ‘productive’, while ‘opus’ in most cases is free (unpaid) activity, not capable of generating wealth for the economic system (surplus value). Therefore, when referring to capitalist production, only the term ‘labour’ is used. Conversely, the term ‘opus’ together with the term ‘otium’ does not imply capitalist activity. The central theme of contemporary capitalism, which, according to some scholars, can be defined as bio-cognitive capitalism, is precisely the attempt to overcome this dichotomy, deconstructing the capital-labour relationship as we have known it since the industrial and French revolution of the late eighteenth century until today.
Andrea Fumagalli

Open Access

Out of the Standard. Towards a Global Approach to Platform Labour
Abstract
This chapter challenges a taken-for-granted split in the platform critical studies: the analysis of platform labour in terms of informalization in the Global North and in terms of formalization in the Global South. Far from totally denying regional specificities in the territorialization of platform capitalism, the author tries to build a bridge between contexts defining a common logic operating through conjunctural geographies: the specific labour process implemented by platforms requires an active engagement by living labour in terms of self-entrepreneurship. This engagement can be produced through the disruption of standard labour as well as through the commodification of informal labour. In both cases, workers have to deal with an acquired dependence from the platform infrastructure. This logic, nevertheless, does not preclude the possibility to overturn self-entrepreneurialism into resistances and exit strategies.
Maurilio Pirone

Open Access

What Urban Future: Do High-Tech Metropolises Dream of Electric Sheep?
Abstract
What urban trends are on the horizon and what are the possible futures of our cities? These questions were often raised during the peaks of the Covid-19 pandemic, generating a series of institutional aftershocks that seem to have left few lasting traces. Some have proposed, like the Colombian Carlos Moreno to the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, re-organising around the idea of 15-min cities—the possibility for every inhabitant to have access in 15 min to every possible urban service, from hospitals to schools, from gardens to sport activities, from marketplaces to leisure spaces, etc. Many architects have spoken of a “return to the rural”, fearing a mass exodus from congested urban centres. In the United States, the slogan of the “one-hour city”, a concept of infrastructure redevelopment aimed at making any place accessible within an hour, has had some success. Many Asian metropolises have seen a significant acceleration in urban digitalisation processes. Numerous other popular ideas also emerged between 2020 and 2021, which we will not go into here, particularly as most of them seem to have remained stuck at the level of announcements and desires rather than becoming concrete projects and policies. There are many reasons for this, but one stands out: increasingly fewer institutions (including municipalities, regions, states, and others) have the power, tools, and knowledge to really intervene in the urban future.
Niccolò Cuppini

Open Access

The Politics of Platforms. Exploring Platforms’ Infrastructural Role and Power
Abstract
According to widespread literature, platforms are considered infrastructures of contemporary society. While we are accustomed to thinking of infrastructure in tangible terms, in a world where analogical and digital appear increasingly indistinguishable, platforms too become like bridges that support economic, cultural, social exchanges, and more. Assuming this characteristic, however, the fundamental question remains: what is the epistemological advantage in considering platforms as infrastructures? In this chapter, we will delve into what it means to conceive of platforms as infrastructures from a political perspective, and ultimately in terms of power. We will explore the relationship between platforms and State institutions (sometimes marked by collaboration, at other times by competition), and focus on relatively novel sources of power of digital giants, specifically algorithmic management and data extraction: through these capacities, platforms achieve and wield a form of governmental power, as understood in Foucauldian terms. Ultimately, rather than justifying the role of platforms as infrastructures, we will examine the political power that this position affords them, investigating the so-called “infrastructural power” they extend over society, and recalling the forms of resistance that counteract it.
Mattia Frapporti

Open Access

Managing the Will: Managerial Normativity from the Wage Society to the Platform Age
Abstract
At different times in the history of industrial capitalism, the firm has replaced the State, or anticipated it, by constructing regulatory models which were then legally sanctioned by State legislation, or generalised within public policies concerning, for example, education systems. This is what Pollman and Barry call “regulatory entrepreneurship”. Alongside this legal normativity, management practices have always entailed a psychological normative production aiming to shape the workforce as a subject, also according to the political instances of current forms of State governmentality. Indeed, the very birth of modern management is to be conceived in relation to these practices of production of forms of subjectivity in the workplace.
Massimiliano Nicoli, Luca Paltrinieri

Open Access

Digital Labour, Informal Unionism and the Rise of a New Workers’ Subjectivity
Federico Chicchi, Marco Marrone

Open Access

Platform Capitalism: Infrastructuring Migration, Mobility, and Racism
Stefania Animento

Open Access

Affect, Precarity and Feminised Labour in Airbnb in London
Nelli Kambouri

Notes From the Field

Frontmatter

Open Access

Why the Sectoral Context Matters for Platform Work
Bettina Haidinger, Bernhard Saupe, Philip Schörpf

Open Access

A Variegated Platform Capitalism? Algorithms, Labour Process and Institutions in Deliveroo in Bologna and Uber in Lisbon
Abstract
This paper addresses the topic of platformisation of labour by investigating two case studies: Uber in Lisbon and Deliveroo in Bologna. According to the theoretical frameworks of variegated capitalism and supported by the analysis of empirical evidence stemming from the ground, the authors outline the hypothesis of a variegated platformisation, that is, the persistence of (dis)continuities in the operations of digital platforms between different socio-institutional contexts. This means that while, on one hand, the platform business model’s logic of accumulation and value extraction is the same regardless of the contexts, on the other side platforms reveal a strong ability to move in (and between) the specific socio-institutional-political regulatory framework. By following the algorithm, which is adopting a multi-sided ethnographic approach investigating how algorithms change across time, space and sectors, the paper will stress both similarities and differences between platform labour process in Deliveroo in Bologna and Uber in Portugal. Finally, while on one hand the conclusion will focus on how institution (still) matter, crucially influencing the development of platforms, on the other it will be stressed the necessity of a more nuanced approach to understand the uneven development of platform capitalism.
Marco Marrone, Giorgio Pirina

Open Access

Perceiving Platform Work as Decent Work? Views Regarding Working Conditions Among Platform Taxi Drivers in Tallinn
Abstract
The global proliferation of neoliberalism, prioritising market primacy, privatisation, and deregulation, has impelled employers to pursue enhanced labour flexibility.
Marge Unt, Kairit Kall, Triin Roosalu, Liis Ojamäe

Open Access

Skills Development as a Political Process: Towards New Forms of Mobilization and Digital Citizenship Among Platform Workers
Abstract
Finding themselves on the front line of changes to how work is regulated and organized, platform workers need to be directly involved in the redefinition of skills according to a participatory and performative notion of digital citizenship. This is especially true in urban settings, where the relationship between workers and platforms has been shaping new forms of social interaction. The skills needed to keep up with these developments remain to be defined. Understanding skills development as a political process is crucial to ensuring individuals have the means to effectively navigate the platform economy and critically assess the opportunities it provides. Furthermore, such an approach will foster informed political engagement while counteracting manipulation or misinformation.
Filippo Bignami, Maël Dif-Pradalier, Julie Tiberghien

Open Access

How to Build Alternatives to Platform Capitalism?
Abstract
The platform economy is growing exponentially while creating expectations for its potential to contribute to sustainable development. Despite this, most research studies have concentrated on well-known models such as Uber and Airbnb, dismissing platform alternatives. Thus, research aimed at showing the potential contribution of each platform’s business model to sustainable development is needed. Moreover, there is a gap in literature studying—thorough empirical research—to what extent platform cooperatives are an alternative to unicorn platforms in terms of working conditions. This chapter summarises the research performed in the PLUS project by Dimmons research group. It puts forward a framework to differentiate platform models, which considers governance, economic sustainability, technological and data policies, social responsibility, and external impact dimensions. This framework was tested with an empirical analysis of 60 platforms and a deep study of three alternatives to platform capitalism: Fairbnb, Katuma, and Smart. The research paper found that a sustainable design of a platform economy promotes sustainable development, and showed in what aspects the three platforms studied may be considered an alternative to unicorn platforms in terms of gender equality, work-life balance, and training opportunities.
Melissa Renau Cano, Ricard Espelt, Mayo Fuster Morell

Open Access

Labour Policies for a Fairer Gig Economy
Abstract
The chapter will consider both the current legislative situation and PLUS proposals in relation to platform labour regulation. While in the first part of the article we will frame the legal status of platform labour around Europe and the ongoing regulatory initiatives, in the second part we will present the PLUS Charter for Platform Workers as a useful starting  point for building a fairer gig economy. In conclusion, we will evaluate this proposal in relation to the current debate, highlighting its limits and opportunities for further legislative initiatives.
Beatrice Dassori, Annamaria Donini

Open Access

Engaging Stakeholders with Platform Labour: The Social Lab Approach
Abstract
In recent years, co-creation, experimentation and prototyping has been embraced by public administrations as a means of making policymaking more porous to societal needs. In this regard, social labs have emerged as a way of enabling “safe spaces” where policymakers can obtain new perspectives and approaches from a plethora of stakeholders combining academia, industry, public administration and society as a whole. These labs try to address the complexities, particularities and demands of modern society whilst trying to represent different interests and voices. In this chapter, we offer some insights extracted from a particular experience called the Social Policy Lab (SOPO Lab), which focused on the economic, labour and socio-ethical implications of platform labour in seven European cities (Barcelona, Bologna, Berlin, London, Lisbon, Paris and Tallinn) that are affected by the economic externalities of four digital platforms (Airbnb, Deliveroo, Helpling and Uber). We argue that social labs can provide room to facilitate close collaboration between policymakers and other underrepresented stakeholders, as well as establish synergies between them to counteract the diverse side-effects that digital platforms have in urban settings.
Raúl Tabarés, Tatiana Bartolomé, Jorge García

Open Access

Local Best Practices: Urban Governance and the Ongoing Platformization Process
Michelangelo Secchi, Franco Tomassoni, Giovanni Allegretti

Open Access

Social Protection, Basic Income and Taxation in the Digital Economy
Abstract
Digital platforms represent the technological infrastructure that has become so widespread in the organisation of production, in the transformations of work and in consumer choices that the term “platformisation of work” has been coined as part of the so-called “digital transformation” of society.
Andrea Fumagalli, Sandro Gobetti, Cristina Morini, Rachele Serino

Open Access

Latent Conflict, Invisible Organisation: Everyday Struggles in Platform Labour
Abstract
 The article looks at everyday practices of platform workers and their micro-conflicts with management or customers, which are often disregarded in platform labour literature. Based on empirical research in Berlin, we describe small-scale forms of opposition, conflict and resistance, which often constitute crucial pre-conditions for larger forms of collective action. The article analyses such practices on the platforms Uber, Deliveroo and Helpling. For each platform, we first analyze individual practices (tricking algorithmic management, circumventing regulation) and in a second step describe the more collective approaches (collective blacklisting, algorithm tinkering) arising from it. The article closes with some conclusions and perspectives that can be drawn from these phenomena.
Moritz Altenried, Valentin Niebler
Metadaten
Titel
Capitalism in the Platform Age
herausgegeben von
Sandro Mezzadra
Niccoló Cuppini
Mattia Frapporti
Maurilio Pirone
Copyright-Jahr
2024
Electronic ISBN
978-3-031-49147-4
Print ISBN
978-3-031-49146-7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49147-4

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