scholarly journals Towards a Digital Workerism: Workers’ Inquiry, Methods, and Technologies

NanoEthics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie Woodcock
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Technology Studies ◽  
Call Centres ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Digital Work

AbstractDigital technology is playing an increasingly visible role in the organisation of many people’s work—as well as large parts of their lives more broadly. The concerns of emancipatory technology studies, or other critical accounts of technology, are often focused on finding alternative uses of technology. In many workplace contexts—from call centres to platform work—the imperatives of capital are deeply written into these technologies. Yet at the same time, many capitalist technologies are playing a key role facilitating emerging workers’ struggles. For example, in the case study examined here, Deliveroo drivers rely on communication technologies like WhatsApp to organise against algorithmic management. Drawing on an ongoing workers’ inquiry, this paper seeks to consider what a workerist approach to digital technology can add to these debates. The paper outlines the challenges and opportunities for a “digital workers’ inquiry,” considering how this approach combines research with organising. The argument is divided into two main parts: first, the need for inquiries in digital work and the importance of these and second, how the process of inquiry and co-research (and the methods these involve) can be adapted and refined with digital technology. By starting the critique of technology from the workplace, this paper proposes a workerist account of how technologies can be destroyed or re-appropriated, starting from a reading of workers’ struggle.

New Urban Layers and Spaces

2019 ◽  
pp. 72-103
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Multiple Domains

This chapter explores infrastructures, experiences, and interactions in relation to emerging urban layers and spaces for engagement in the city. The purpose of this chapter is to shed light on the digital layers enabled by information and communication technologies, the internet of things, the internet of people, and other emerging technologies to complement and extend existing urban infrastructural layers. The research literature for infrastructures, experiences, and interactions is explored in this chapter in the context of smart cities, enabling identification of issues, controversies, and problems. Using an exploratory case study approach, solutions and recommendations are advanced. This chapter makes a contribution to 1) the research literature across multiple domains, 2) the identification of challenges and opportunities for research and practice relating to emerging urban layers and spaces going forward, and 3) the extending of existing understandings of urbanity to incorporate digital layers and spaces enabling connected, contextual, and continuous engagement.

Utilising ICTs for Resource Sharing Initiatives in Academic Institutions in Zimbabwe

2017 ◽  
pp. 174-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Collence Takaingenhamo Chisita ◽  
Forbes Chinyemba
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Library Consortia ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Information And Communication

This chapter examines the use of Information and Communication Technologies and their impact on resource sharing initiatives within the context of library consortia in Zimbabwe. The writer also explores the various projects initiated to promote resource sharing. The challenges and opportunities that ICT's provide are also meticulously explored. The writer probes how ICT's have transformed academic libraries in Zimbabwe in the context of digital technology. It also seeks to find out the benefits that libraries can accrue from investing in ICT. The paper also explores the extent to which academic libraries are making use of technology to contribute to the national and global research agenda.

scholarly journals Digital Workerism: Technology, Platforms, and the Circulation of Workers’ Struggles

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
Sai Englert ◽  
Jamie Woodcock ◽  
Callum Cant
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Future Of Work ◽  
Class Composition ◽  
Technology Platforms ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Critical Understanding

The use of digital technology has become a key part of contemporary debates on how work is changing, the future of work/ers, resistance, and organising. Workerism took up many of these questions in the context of the factory – particularly through the Italian Operaismo – connecting the experience of the workplace with a broader struggle against capitalism. However, there are many differences between those factories and the new digital workplaces in which many workers find themselves today. The methods of workers’ inquiry and the theories of class composition are a useful legacy from Operaismo, providing tools and a framework to make sense of and intervene within workers’ struggles today. However, these require sharpening and updating in a digital context. In this article, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for a “digital workerism”, understood as both a research and organising method. We use the case study of Uber to discuss how technology can be used against workers, as well as repurposed by them in various ways. By developing an analysis of the technical, social, and political re-composition taking place on the platform, we move beyond determinist readings of technology, to place different technologies within the social relations that are emerging. In particular, we draw attention to the new forms through which workers’ struggles can be circulated. Through this, we argue for a “digital workerism” that develops a critical understanding of how the workplace can become a key site for the struggles of digital/communicative socialism.

ICT-ENABLED BOTTOM-UP ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burak Pak
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Ict Tools

This paper aims at discussing the potentials of bottom-up design practices in relation to the latest developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) by making an in-depth review of inaugural cases. The first part of the study involves a literature study and the elaboration of basic strategies from the case study. The second part reframes the existing ICT tools and strategies and elaborates on their potentials to support the modes of participation performed in these cases. As a result, by distilling the created knowledge, the study reveals the potentials of novel modes of ICT-enabled design participation which exploit a set of collective action tools to support sustainable ways of self-organization and bottom-up design. The final part explains the relevance of these with solid examples and presents a hypothetical case for future implementation. The paper concludes with a brief reflection on the implications of the findings for the future of architectural design education.

Post-digital prosumption and the sharing economy of space: The pay-per-minute cafe

2021 ◽  
pp. 146954052110220
Author(s):  
Alexandra Kviat
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Culture ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Digital Culture ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Pricing Policy ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Brick And Mortar ◽  
Physical Spaces

Although prosumption and the sharing economy are currently at the cutting edge of consumer culture research, little attempt has been made to explore the theoretical relationship between these concepts and approach them with a pluralistic, dynamic, nuanced and ethnographically informed lens moving beyond the dichotomies of capitalism versus anti-capitalism, rhetoric versus reality, exploitation versus empowerment and traditional versus digital consumer culture. This article addresses these gaps by focusing on the phenomenon of pay-per-minute cafes – physical spaces inspired by digital culture and meant to apply its principles in the brick-and-mortar servicescape. Drawing on a multi-site, multi-method case study of the world’s first pay-per-minute cafe franchise, the article shows a multitude of ways in which prosumption and the sharing economy, both shaped by different configurations of organisational culture, physical design, food offer and pricing policy, are conceived, interpreted and experienced by the firms and customers across the franchise and argues that conflicts and contradictions arising from this diversity cannot be reduced to the narrative of consumer exploitation. Finally, while both prosumption and the sharing economy are typically defined by the use of digital platforms, this article makes a case for a post-digital approach to consumer culture research, looking into the cultural impact of digital technology on traditional servicescapes.

scholarly journals Towards Sustainable Mobility? The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Romanian Mobile Citizens in Spain

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4023
Author(s):  
Silvia Marcu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Sustainable Mobility ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
New Models ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Depth Interviews

Using the case study of Romanians in Spain, this article highlights how the COVID-19 crisis presents both challenges and opportunities when it comes to human mobility and sustainability. Drawing on in-depth interviews with mobile people during the period of lockdown and circulation restrictions, and in accordance with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the paper advances and contributes to the relevance of sustainability and its impact on people’s mobility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I argue that even in the midst of the crisis, sustainable ways may be found to promote and protect human mobility. The paper raises the way sustainability acts as a driver, gains relevance and influence, and contributes to the creation of new models of resilient mobility in times of crisis. The conclusions defend the respect for the SDGs regarding human mobility and emphasise the role of people on the move as sustainable actors learning to overcome distance and the barriers to their mobility during the pandemic.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Hospitality Industry in Greece and Its Treasured Santorini Island

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7906
Author(s):  
Nikola Medová ◽  
Lucie Macková ◽  
Jaromir Harmacek
Keyword(s):  
Social Impact ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Multiple Variables ◽  
Hospitality Sector ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Further Development

This paper focuses on the dynamic of the recent upheaval in the tourism and hospitality sector due to the COVID-19 epidemic in Greece and Santorini island. It uses the case study of a country one-fourth of whose GDP consists of tourism. We compare the available statistical data showing the change in variables in the previous years with 2020 and look into the new challenges and opportunities posed by the drop in the numbers of visitors and flights. We focus mainly on the economic and social impact on the destination and possible future scenarios for further development in the area. Data show a significant effect of the pandemic on multiple variables, such as the long-term trend of the importance of tourism sector in GDP in Greece, the number of flights and visitors to Greece and Santorini island, and the contribution of tourism and travel to GDP. Based on the available data, we also construct three foresight scenarios that describe the possible futures for Santorini island in terms of the pandemic evolution. These scenarios may help various stakeholders and policymakers to be better prepared for different developments that may appear.

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