Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029728
- eISBN:
- 9780262329705
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029728.003.0009
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Chapter 1 examines the contemporary revival of sharing as collaborative consumption in mediated and particularly commercial forms, with examples from food sharing in particular. It reports surveys of ...
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Chapter 1 examines the contemporary revival of sharing as collaborative consumption in mediated and particularly commercial forms, with examples from food sharing in particular. It reports surveys of sharing behaviors, highlighting the role of the Millennial demographic in the growth of the sharing economy. It examines the technical, environmental, economic and cultural drivers of the sharing revival, especially the transfer of norms from sharing on the internet to the real world. It explores the economic logics and disruption of sharing, outlines how incumbent businesses are responding to the sharing paradigm and begins to examine the risks and benefits of an intrusion of commercial sharing into the social realm.Less
Chapter 1 examines the contemporary revival of sharing as collaborative consumption in mediated and particularly commercial forms, with examples from food sharing in particular. It reports surveys of sharing behaviors, highlighting the role of the Millennial demographic in the growth of the sharing economy. It examines the technical, environmental, economic and cultural drivers of the sharing revival, especially the transfer of norms from sharing on the internet to the real world. It explores the economic logics and disruption of sharing, outlines how incumbent businesses are responding to the sharing paradigm and begins to examine the risks and benefits of an intrusion of commercial sharing into the social realm.
Greg Goldberg
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479829989
- eISBN:
- 9781479898046
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479829989.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter examines popular and academic concerns that the sharing economy offers workers a raw deal—lower salaries, fewer benefits, and little job security—and that workers have essentially been ...
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This chapter examines popular and academic concerns that the sharing economy offers workers a raw deal—lower salaries, fewer benefits, and little job security—and that workers have essentially been forced to take sharing-economy jobs in the wake of the Great Recession, all of which have been masked by the communitarian rhetoric of sharing-economy proponents. The chapter does not dispute critics’ characterization of sharing economy practices as unsavory, but rather takes issue with the notion that contingent employment is necessarily a bad thing for workers. The chapter argues that concerns about the increasing precarity of labor are rooted in a rejection of the market and of money as inimical to valued social bonds. The antisocial thesis inspires a critical interpretation of money and the market as potentially liberatory.Less
This chapter examines popular and academic concerns that the sharing economy offers workers a raw deal—lower salaries, fewer benefits, and little job security—and that workers have essentially been forced to take sharing-economy jobs in the wake of the Great Recession, all of which have been masked by the communitarian rhetoric of sharing-economy proponents. The chapter does not dispute critics’ characterization of sharing economy practices as unsavory, but rather takes issue with the notion that contingent employment is necessarily a bad thing for workers. The chapter argues that concerns about the increasing precarity of labor are rooted in a rejection of the market and of money as inimical to valued social bonds. The antisocial thesis inspires a critical interpretation of money and the market as potentially liberatory.
Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029728
- eISBN:
- 9780262329705
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029728.003.0008
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
The introduction outlines the challenges and opportunities of humanity’s increasingly urban future, setting out a case for sharing cities as a response to those challenges. It defines the ‘sharing ...
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The introduction outlines the challenges and opportunities of humanity’s increasingly urban future, setting out a case for sharing cities as a response to those challenges. It defines the ‘sharing paradigm’ as a cultural and political, as well as economic transformation. It explores the critical concepts associated with the sharing paradigm and maps its coverage against emerging terminology applied by other. It also introduces the necessary socio-cultural and political changes needed to produce ‘sharing cities’.Less
The introduction outlines the challenges and opportunities of humanity’s increasingly urban future, setting out a case for sharing cities as a response to those challenges. It defines the ‘sharing paradigm’ as a cultural and political, as well as economic transformation. It explores the critical concepts associated with the sharing paradigm and maps its coverage against emerging terminology applied by other. It also introduces the necessary socio-cultural and political changes needed to produce ‘sharing cities’.
Patrick Dunleavy, Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow, and Jane Tinkler
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199296194
- eISBN:
- 9780191700750
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296194.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology, Political Economy
This afterword looks at some of the most feasible ‘next-wave’ technology-driven changes, then at how the world market for government IT may change in the next two decades, and finally at alternative ...
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This afterword looks at some of the most feasible ‘next-wave’ technology-driven changes, then at how the world market for government IT may change in the next two decades, and finally at alternative scenarios of how governments may handle the development of their IT systems. The study period has coincided with a massive increase in interest in government IT, as the spread of central government e-government initiatives across the world took on some aspects of the earlier dot.com boom in e-commerce. A key theme for the coming decades in all seven case study countries will be identity management. In taxation, social security, and immigration, technological trends are requiring ever greater innovation in terms of reliable identification and authentication techniques. Five feasible technology-driven changes with particular relevance for government over the coming decades are identified: web-based utility computing for some agencies; a shared-services mixed economy; spread of zero trend technologies; semantic Web; and graphical interface to governmental services.Less
This afterword looks at some of the most feasible ‘next-wave’ technology-driven changes, then at how the world market for government IT may change in the next two decades, and finally at alternative scenarios of how governments may handle the development of their IT systems. The study period has coincided with a massive increase in interest in government IT, as the spread of central government e-government initiatives across the world took on some aspects of the earlier dot.com boom in e-commerce. A key theme for the coming decades in all seven case study countries will be identity management. In taxation, social security, and immigration, technological trends are requiring ever greater innovation in terms of reliable identification and authentication techniques. Five feasible technology-driven changes with particular relevance for government over the coming decades are identified: web-based utility computing for some agencies; a shared-services mixed economy; spread of zero trend technologies; semantic Web; and graphical interface to governmental services.
Lee Anne Fennell
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226650265
- eISBN:
- 9780226650432
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226650432.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
Chapter 8 examines the so-called sharing economy (better termed the slicing economy) in the marketplace for products and services. It considers the prospects and limits of swapping full-strength ...
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Chapter 8 examines the so-called sharing economy (better termed the slicing economy) in the marketplace for products and services. It considers the prospects and limits of swapping full-strength ownership for on-demand access. The chapter also shows how indivisibilities crop up in product bundling, sizing, pricing, and standardization, with implications for consumer choice. Although “long tail” dynamics have increased product variety in many domains, high fixed costs for introducing a new offering can push toward standardization and leave those with less popular tastes out in the cold. Price discrimination and product bundling can alter the mix of goods offered and consumed. Bundling can also have interesting cognitive effects, including attenuation of the sunk-cost fallacy. Because the traditional ownership model bundles possession over time, such effects are important to study as we move to models based on thinner slices of access. Finally, the lumpiness of money itself can impact product markets and the stickiness of prices, as Coca-Cola's maintenance of the five-cent Coke for over seven decades vividly illustrates.Less
Chapter 8 examines the so-called sharing economy (better termed the slicing economy) in the marketplace for products and services. It considers the prospects and limits of swapping full-strength ownership for on-demand access. The chapter also shows how indivisibilities crop up in product bundling, sizing, pricing, and standardization, with implications for consumer choice. Although “long tail” dynamics have increased product variety in many domains, high fixed costs for introducing a new offering can push toward standardization and leave those with less popular tastes out in the cold. Price discrimination and product bundling can alter the mix of goods offered and consumed. Bundling can also have interesting cognitive effects, including attenuation of the sunk-cost fallacy. Because the traditional ownership model bundles possession over time, such effects are important to study as we move to models based on thinner slices of access. Finally, the lumpiness of money itself can impact product markets and the stickiness of prices, as Coca-Cola's maintenance of the five-cent Coke for over seven decades vividly illustrates.
Greg Goldberg
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479829989
- eISBN:
- 9781479898046
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479829989.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This book addresses popular and academic concerns that the institution of work is being irreparably damaged by digital/media technologies. The book considers three specific concerns (each in a ...
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This book addresses popular and academic concerns that the institution of work is being irreparably damaged by digital/media technologies. The book considers three specific concerns (each in a separate chapter): 1) that all jobs may soon be automated out of existence, 2) that the sharing economy will degrade the few jobs that remain, and 3) that services like Facebook and Instagram are turning leisure into work, exploiting users in their so-called free time. Through an in-depth examination of these concerns, the book proposes that what really concerns these writers is not that work is being degraded or may soon disappear altogether, but rather that society itself is under attack, and more specifically the bonds of responsibility on which social relations depend. Drawing from recent work on affect/emotion and from the controversial antisocial thesis in queer theory, the book argues that the anxiety surrounding these transformations aims primarily not to slow or reverse these changes, but rather to solicit readers to identify with the social: to stop being irresponsible, unaccountable, lazy, self-serving, and hedonistic, and to once again engage in the hard work of being a productive member of society.Less
This book addresses popular and academic concerns that the institution of work is being irreparably damaged by digital/media technologies. The book considers three specific concerns (each in a separate chapter): 1) that all jobs may soon be automated out of existence, 2) that the sharing economy will degrade the few jobs that remain, and 3) that services like Facebook and Instagram are turning leisure into work, exploiting users in their so-called free time. Through an in-depth examination of these concerns, the book proposes that what really concerns these writers is not that work is being degraded or may soon disappear altogether, but rather that society itself is under attack, and more specifically the bonds of responsibility on which social relations depend. Drawing from recent work on affect/emotion and from the controversial antisocial thesis in queer theory, the book argues that the anxiety surrounding these transformations aims primarily not to slow or reverse these changes, but rather to solicit readers to identify with the social: to stop being irresponsible, unaccountable, lazy, self-serving, and hedonistic, and to once again engage in the hard work of being a productive member of society.
Maurie J. Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198768555
- eISBN:
- 9780191821912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198768555.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, Microeconomics
Chapter 3 examines the so-called sharing economy which is premised on establishing ways to redefine the boundaries between product ownership and use and creating opportunities for collaboration ...
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Chapter 3 examines the so-called sharing economy which is premised on establishing ways to redefine the boundaries between product ownership and use and creating opportunities for collaboration between producers and consumers. The most popular digital platforms extend already familiar notions of peer-to-peer provisioning to livery services, overnight accommodations, and clothing exchanges but there is considerable divergence between idealized conceptions of the sharing economy and actual performance. While supporters of the sharing economy continue to describe these developments as evidence of spreading mutuality, detractors regard them as another manifestation of growing reliance on contingent labor and spreading economic insecurity.Less
Chapter 3 examines the so-called sharing economy which is premised on establishing ways to redefine the boundaries between product ownership and use and creating opportunities for collaboration between producers and consumers. The most popular digital platforms extend already familiar notions of peer-to-peer provisioning to livery services, overnight accommodations, and clothing exchanges but there is considerable divergence between idealized conceptions of the sharing economy and actual performance. While supporters of the sharing economy continue to describe these developments as evidence of spreading mutuality, detractors regard them as another manifestation of growing reliance on contingent labor and spreading economic insecurity.
Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029728
- eISBN:
- 9780262329705
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029728.003.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
The case study describes the boom in commercial, mediated sharing in San Francisco and the associated values shift amongst millennials. It highlights the city’s efforts to leverage and support ...
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The case study describes the boom in commercial, mediated sharing in San Francisco and the associated values shift amongst millennials. It highlights the city’s efforts to leverage and support technology led growth as a ’smart city’ and its response to the growth and impacts of sharing platforms such as Airbnb and Lyft. It outlines the emerging debates over appropriate regulation and governance for the sharing economy.Less
The case study describes the boom in commercial, mediated sharing in San Francisco and the associated values shift amongst millennials. It highlights the city’s efforts to leverage and support technology led growth as a ’smart city’ and its response to the growth and impacts of sharing platforms such as Airbnb and Lyft. It outlines the emerging debates over appropriate regulation and governance for the sharing economy.
Jeremias Prassl
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- April 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198797012
- eISBN:
- 9780191859458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198797012.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Employment Law
This chapter turns to linguistic matters. It explores how, despite their focus on commercial labour intermediation, platforms were originally cast in a different light, operating under the mantle of ...
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This chapter turns to linguistic matters. It explores how, despite their focus on commercial labour intermediation, platforms were originally cast in a different light, operating under the mantle of a ‘sharing economy’. Superficial as this may seem, language matters—not least as a driver of regulatory approaches. To understand the gig economy, it is crucial that we look behind the language of innovation and technology, of sharing and collaborative consumption, and of ‘gigs’ and ‘tasks’. This chapter first focuses on arguments that the gig economy should not be regulated at all, discerning multiple iterations of this approach, with varying degrees of sophistication. At its crudest, this is the story that the law stands in the way of innovation and should leave ‘disruptive’ businesses well alone. At a more sophisticated level, we then encounter different proposals for new forms of regulation.Less
This chapter turns to linguistic matters. It explores how, despite their focus on commercial labour intermediation, platforms were originally cast in a different light, operating under the mantle of a ‘sharing economy’. Superficial as this may seem, language matters—not least as a driver of regulatory approaches. To understand the gig economy, it is crucial that we look behind the language of innovation and technology, of sharing and collaborative consumption, and of ‘gigs’ and ‘tasks’. This chapter first focuses on arguments that the gig economy should not be regulated at all, discerning multiple iterations of this approach, with varying degrees of sophistication. At its crudest, this is the story that the law stands in the way of innovation and should leave ‘disruptive’ businesses well alone. At a more sophisticated level, we then encounter different proposals for new forms of regulation.
Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262029728
- eISBN:
- 9780262329705
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262029728.003.0002
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
The case study highlights the socio-cultural origins of sharing models in Seoul, providing some context on the Korean communitarian cultural concept of jeong. It highlights the leading role of city ...
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The case study highlights the socio-cultural origins of sharing models in Seoul, providing some context on the Korean communitarian cultural concept of jeong. It highlights the leading role of city authorities in stimulating sharing enterprises and behaviour with examples of initiatives supported and developed. It identifies how Seoul has brought human aspects to the fore in its expression of the smart city concept, rather than the technology. It notes also the historical emergence of co-production in Seoul, and its role in helping consolidate democratic governance; and outlines contemporary activity to promote co-governance, transparency and public participation.Less
The case study highlights the socio-cultural origins of sharing models in Seoul, providing some context on the Korean communitarian cultural concept of jeong. It highlights the leading role of city authorities in stimulating sharing enterprises and behaviour with examples of initiatives supported and developed. It identifies how Seoul has brought human aspects to the fore in its expression of the smart city concept, rather than the technology. It notes also the historical emergence of co-production in Seoul, and its role in helping consolidate democratic governance; and outlines contemporary activity to promote co-governance, transparency and public participation.
Lee Anne Fennell
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226650265
- eISBN:
- 9780226650432
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226650432.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This book focuses on a profoundly important but often overlooked concept that shapes how we live, work, play, and govern ourselves: configuration. From “lumpy goods” like bridges and highways that ...
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This book focuses on a profoundly important but often overlooked concept that shapes how we live, work, play, and govern ourselves: configuration. From “lumpy goods” like bridges and highways that are valuable only when complete, to resources and assets that become more useful when artfully subdivided, human well-being depends on assembling useful lumps and carving out useful slices. From hot-button issues like eminent domain and the sharing economy to personal struggles over the management of time, money, and diet, issues of aggregation and division abound. This book highlights the ubiquity of configuration problems in law, policy, and everyday life, and examines strategies for addressing them. Configuration’s power has never been more important to understand and harness. As increasing urbanization and environmental threats raise the stakes for assembling resources and cooperation, emerging forms of unbundling, from jobs to cars to homes to entertainment, have refined the slices in which we produce and consume. The future of the city, the workplace, the marketplace, and the environment all turn on questions of configuration, as do the prospects for more effective legal doctrines, for better management of finances and health, and much more. This book examines how governments, firms, households, and individuals slice and lump, and how they might do these things better. It reveals the power and potential of configuration—as a unifying concept and field of study, as a focus of public policy and private entrepreneurship, and as a crucial form of life-hacking.Less
This book focuses on a profoundly important but often overlooked concept that shapes how we live, work, play, and govern ourselves: configuration. From “lumpy goods” like bridges and highways that are valuable only when complete, to resources and assets that become more useful when artfully subdivided, human well-being depends on assembling useful lumps and carving out useful slices. From hot-button issues like eminent domain and the sharing economy to personal struggles over the management of time, money, and diet, issues of aggregation and division abound. This book highlights the ubiquity of configuration problems in law, policy, and everyday life, and examines strategies for addressing them. Configuration’s power has never been more important to understand and harness. As increasing urbanization and environmental threats raise the stakes for assembling resources and cooperation, emerging forms of unbundling, from jobs to cars to homes to entertainment, have refined the slices in which we produce and consume. The future of the city, the workplace, the marketplace, and the environment all turn on questions of configuration, as do the prospects for more effective legal doctrines, for better management of finances and health, and much more. This book examines how governments, firms, households, and individuals slice and lump, and how they might do these things better. It reveals the power and potential of configuration—as a unifying concept and field of study, as a focus of public policy and private entrepreneurship, and as a crucial form of life-hacking.
Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035019
- eISBN:
- 9780262335959
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035019.003.0010
- Subject:
- Information Science, Library Science
This chapter begins by considering the emergence of the sharing economy, which brings consumers cheaper access and convenience. But it also deprives consumers of some rights that are commonly ...
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This chapter begins by considering the emergence of the sharing economy, which brings consumers cheaper access and convenience. But it also deprives consumers of some rights that are commonly associated with property ownership. This chapter then proposes several ways to combat the erosion of ownership. Legal reform faces many hurdles, but there are still several steps legislators and courts can take: first, false claims of ownership such as “buy now” or “own” should be targeted to improve consumer information; second, the pervasive use of form contracts needs to be curbed; third, consumers need to be freed from the restrictions imposed by DRM; lastly, courts also need to reinvigorate the principle of patent exhaustion and reform copyright law. Technological developments, including using block chain technology to record ownership interests in digital assets, can also help ensure meaningful personal property rights.Less
This chapter begins by considering the emergence of the sharing economy, which brings consumers cheaper access and convenience. But it also deprives consumers of some rights that are commonly associated with property ownership. This chapter then proposes several ways to combat the erosion of ownership. Legal reform faces many hurdles, but there are still several steps legislators and courts can take: first, false claims of ownership such as “buy now” or “own” should be targeted to improve consumer information; second, the pervasive use of form contracts needs to be curbed; third, consumers need to be freed from the restrictions imposed by DRM; lastly, courts also need to reinvigorate the principle of patent exhaustion and reform copyright law. Technological developments, including using block chain technology to record ownership interests in digital assets, can also help ensure meaningful personal property rights.
Dietmar Wetzel
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823270910
- eISBN:
- 9780823270965
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823270910.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This essay takes a programmatic look at the theoretical concerns posed regarding community, examining two different movements, the Occupy movement and the Sharing economy, in terms of interruptions ...
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This essay takes a programmatic look at the theoretical concerns posed regarding community, examining two different movements, the Occupy movement and the Sharing economy, in terms of interruptions or breaks in dominant structures. It continues to argue that it is possible to see these breaks with the perpetuating dominant structures as instances of the formation of a metonymic community. The spontaneity and spatial contiguity of such movements and moments are organized around the contingent circumstances of participants rather than mediated by an overarching structure. While the identification of such new and defiant structures is tantalizing, this paper exercises caution, taking into account the risks of thinking the collective. It does, however, assimilate these two exemplars of unfolding communal structures as defying any sort of master narrative, and in doing so, provides practical examples of thinking the contingent and the communal beyond an oppositional paradigm.Less
This essay takes a programmatic look at the theoretical concerns posed regarding community, examining two different movements, the Occupy movement and the Sharing economy, in terms of interruptions or breaks in dominant structures. It continues to argue that it is possible to see these breaks with the perpetuating dominant structures as instances of the formation of a metonymic community. The spontaneity and spatial contiguity of such movements and moments are organized around the contingent circumstances of participants rather than mediated by an overarching structure. While the identification of such new and defiant structures is tantalizing, this paper exercises caution, taking into account the risks of thinking the collective. It does, however, assimilate these two exemplars of unfolding communal structures as defying any sort of master narrative, and in doing so, provides practical examples of thinking the contingent and the communal beyond an oppositional paradigm.
Ed Finn
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035927
- eISBN:
- 9780262338837
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035927.003.0005
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Programming Languages
Chapter 4 begins with Ian Bogost’s satirical Facebook game Cow Clicker and its send-up of the “gamification” movement to add quantification and algorithmic thinking to many facets of everyday life. ...
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Chapter 4 begins with Ian Bogost’s satirical Facebook game Cow Clicker and its send-up of the “gamification” movement to add quantification and algorithmic thinking to many facets of everyday life. Such games trouble the boundaries between work and play, as do much more serious forms of gamification like Uber and the high-tech warehouse workers whose every second and step are measured for efficiency. Taken together, these new models of work herald a novel form of alienated labor for the algorithmic age. In our science fiction present, humans are processors handling simple tasks assigned by an algorithmic apparatus. Drawing on the historical figure of the automaton, a remarkable collection of Mechanical Turk-powered poetry titled Of the Subcontract, and Adam Smith’s conception of empathy in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, the chapter explores the consequences of computational capitalism on politics, empathy, and social value.Less
Chapter 4 begins with Ian Bogost’s satirical Facebook game Cow Clicker and its send-up of the “gamification” movement to add quantification and algorithmic thinking to many facets of everyday life. Such games trouble the boundaries between work and play, as do much more serious forms of gamification like Uber and the high-tech warehouse workers whose every second and step are measured for efficiency. Taken together, these new models of work herald a novel form of alienated labor for the algorithmic age. In our science fiction present, humans are processors handling simple tasks assigned by an algorithmic apparatus. Drawing on the historical figure of the automaton, a remarkable collection of Mechanical Turk-powered poetry titled Of the Subcontract, and Adam Smith’s conception of empathy in his Theory of Moral Sentiments, the chapter explores the consequences of computational capitalism on politics, empathy, and social value.
Greg Goldberg
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781479829989
- eISBN:
- 9781479898046
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479829989.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
The first half of this chapter introduces the scope, argument, and theoretical orientation of the book. It also summarizes the debates surrounding the antisocial thesis in queer theory and offers a ...
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The first half of this chapter introduces the scope, argument, and theoretical orientation of the book. It also summarizes the debates surrounding the antisocial thesis in queer theory and offers a brief defence of this line of thinking. The second half of the chapter contains a summary of each of the remaining chapters and reiterates the overall argument of the book: that concerns about playbor, automation, and the sharing economy mask a deeper anxiety about the degradation of social bonds, and that this anxiety does not simply express an attachment to these bonds, but attempts to restore them by calling readers back to the social.Less
The first half of this chapter introduces the scope, argument, and theoretical orientation of the book. It also summarizes the debates surrounding the antisocial thesis in queer theory and offers a brief defence of this line of thinking. The second half of the chapter contains a summary of each of the remaining chapters and reiterates the overall argument of the book: that concerns about playbor, automation, and the sharing economy mask a deeper anxiety about the degradation of social bonds, and that this anxiety does not simply express an attachment to these bonds, but attempts to restore them by calling readers back to the social.
John Child, David Faulkner, Stephen Tallman, and Linda Hsieh
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- June 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198814634
- eISBN:
- 9780191852374
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198814634.003.0006
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Strategy
Chapter 6 analyzes a new form of economy, enabled by ICTs, digital platforms, and smart devices to connect transactors (sharers or buyers and sellers) who may not have been able to cooperate ...
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Chapter 6 analyzes a new form of economy, enabled by ICTs, digital platforms, and smart devices to connect transactors (sharers or buyers and sellers) who may not have been able to cooperate otherwise. It provides an overview of the phenomenon of “the platform revolution” (from classic value chain logic to platform business logic). It goes on to explain different types of platform (innovation platform, transaction platform, integration platform), the principles of platform business (network effects, the distribution power law, asymmetric growth and competition) and the tacit cooperative strategies of suppliers, platform providers, and customers. Cooperation is tacit—providers do not interact and customers do not interact, except through ratings. The platform system is set up to maintain this condition. The chapter concludes with an overview of platform governance.Less
Chapter 6 analyzes a new form of economy, enabled by ICTs, digital platforms, and smart devices to connect transactors (sharers or buyers and sellers) who may not have been able to cooperate otherwise. It provides an overview of the phenomenon of “the platform revolution” (from classic value chain logic to platform business logic). It goes on to explain different types of platform (innovation platform, transaction platform, integration platform), the principles of platform business (network effects, the distribution power law, asymmetric growth and competition) and the tacit cooperative strategies of suppliers, platform providers, and customers. Cooperation is tacit—providers do not interact and customers do not interact, except through ratings. The platform system is set up to maintain this condition. The chapter concludes with an overview of platform governance.
Maria Bezaitis
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262035750
- eISBN:
- 9780262338332
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035750.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics
Using the so-called “sharing economy” or on-demand economy as a jumping off point, this chapter considers the logic and commodification of the gift. Early users of Airbnb, a digital platform that ...
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Using the so-called “sharing economy” or on-demand economy as a jumping off point, this chapter considers the logic and commodification of the gift. Early users of Airbnb, a digital platform that allows homeowners to offer their residences for short-term rentals, would often leave gifts for their hosts. These gifts spotlight the home as both an intimately personal space and as a zone of commerce, both emotionally and economically dense with relationships. Airbnb heightens the contradictions of these relationships. Leaving gifts after an Airbnb stay imparts a sense of connection and belonging, despite the short-term nature of the relationship and its mediation by money. Are such gifts payments? Are they expressions of a desire to connect? The author concludes that the gift maintains its relevance despite the asset monetization of everyday life represented by the sharing economy.Less
Using the so-called “sharing economy” or on-demand economy as a jumping off point, this chapter considers the logic and commodification of the gift. Early users of Airbnb, a digital platform that allows homeowners to offer their residences for short-term rentals, would often leave gifts for their hosts. These gifts spotlight the home as both an intimately personal space and as a zone of commerce, both emotionally and economically dense with relationships. Airbnb heightens the contradictions of these relationships. Leaving gifts after an Airbnb stay imparts a sense of connection and belonging, despite the short-term nature of the relationship and its mediation by money. Are such gifts payments? Are they expressions of a desire to connect? The author concludes that the gift maintains its relevance despite the asset monetization of everyday life represented by the sharing economy.
Bruce Katz and Anne Power
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447327523
- eISBN:
- 9781447327547
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447327523.003.0007
- Subject:
- Earth Sciences and Geography, Urban Geography
This chapter is about the social economy, social exclusion and inclusion. SMEs not only sustain production and services but also support a renewed social focus with many breakthrough social ...
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This chapter is about the social economy, social exclusion and inclusion. SMEs not only sustain production and services but also support a renewed social focus with many breakthrough social innovations in what is now called the “Sharing Economy”. However, the skills gap remains a serious challenge for those most damaged by industrial losses – particularly among youth. The concentration of foreigners and ethnic minorities in the poorest neighbourhoods also challenges the European ideal of social cohesion.Less
This chapter is about the social economy, social exclusion and inclusion. SMEs not only sustain production and services but also support a renewed social focus with many breakthrough social innovations in what is now called the “Sharing Economy”. However, the skills gap remains a serious challenge for those most damaged by industrial losses – particularly among youth. The concentration of foreigners and ethnic minorities in the poorest neighbourhoods also challenges the European ideal of social cohesion.
Dariusz Jemielniak
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198839705
- eISBN:
- 9780191897351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198839705.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
This chapter discusses three major changes resulting from the emerging communication technologies. It addresses the new forms of shaping relations online. Friendships, intimacy, the rise of weak ...
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This chapter discusses three major changes resulting from the emerging communication technologies. It addresses the new forms of shaping relations online. Friendships, intimacy, the rise of weak ties, as well as an increased fluidity of relations are discussed. Next, the chapter addresses the demise of expert knowledge. Starting with McDonaldization of higher education and the rise of anti-intellectual sentiments, the chapter addresses the new trends in democratizing knowledge. While recognizing highly positive aspects of the turn, such as citizen science, Wikipedia, or free/open source movement, it also addresses the darker and more troubling processes, such as anti-scientific sentiments, pseudotheories, and the takeover of knowledge production and distribution by quacks. Finally, the chapter focuses on sharing economy. By problematizing the “sharing” premise, as well as by showing the impact of the ongoing change reaching far beyond economy itself, the chapter introduces the notion of collaborative society, as better covering the social change we witness.Less
This chapter discusses three major changes resulting from the emerging communication technologies. It addresses the new forms of shaping relations online. Friendships, intimacy, the rise of weak ties, as well as an increased fluidity of relations are discussed. Next, the chapter addresses the demise of expert knowledge. Starting with McDonaldization of higher education and the rise of anti-intellectual sentiments, the chapter addresses the new trends in democratizing knowledge. While recognizing highly positive aspects of the turn, such as citizen science, Wikipedia, or free/open source movement, it also addresses the darker and more troubling processes, such as anti-scientific sentiments, pseudotheories, and the takeover of knowledge production and distribution by quacks. Finally, the chapter focuses on sharing economy. By problematizing the “sharing” premise, as well as by showing the impact of the ongoing change reaching far beyond economy itself, the chapter introduces the notion of collaborative society, as better covering the social change we witness.
Maurie J. Cohen
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- December 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198768555
- eISBN:
- 9780191821912
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198768555.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare, Microeconomics
Consumer society in the United States and other countries is receding due to demographic ageing, rising income inequality, political paralysis, and resource scarcity. Simultaneously steady jobs that ...
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Consumer society in the United States and other countries is receding due to demographic ageing, rising income inequality, political paralysis, and resource scarcity. Simultaneously steady jobs that compensate employees on a salaried or hourly basis are being replaced by freelancing and contingent work. The rise of the so-called sharing economy, the growth of do-it-yourself production, and the spreading popularity of economic localization are evidence that people are striving to ensure livelihoods in the face of profound change. Indications are that we are at the early stages of a transition away from a system of social organization predicated on consumerism. These developments have prompted some policymakers to suggest providing households with a non-labor source of income that would enable them to more adequately meet their basic needs. These proposals include a universal basic income, a citizen’s dividend, and a legal framework for broad-based stock ownership in corporations. Extreme political fractiousness makes it unlikely that these recommendations will receive prompt and widespread legislative endorsement in most nations. In the meantime, we seem to be moving toward a twenty-first-century version of feudalism. How might we chart a different path founded on social inclusiveness and economic security? One option entails establishment of networks of interlinked worker–consumer cooperatives that organizationally unify production and consumption. Such modes of mutual assistance already exist and this book profiles several successful examples. If replicated and scaled up, worker–consumer cooperatives could smooth the transition beyond consumer society and facilitate a future premised on sufficiency, resiliency, and well-being.Less
Consumer society in the United States and other countries is receding due to demographic ageing, rising income inequality, political paralysis, and resource scarcity. Simultaneously steady jobs that compensate employees on a salaried or hourly basis are being replaced by freelancing and contingent work. The rise of the so-called sharing economy, the growth of do-it-yourself production, and the spreading popularity of economic localization are evidence that people are striving to ensure livelihoods in the face of profound change. Indications are that we are at the early stages of a transition away from a system of social organization predicated on consumerism. These developments have prompted some policymakers to suggest providing households with a non-labor source of income that would enable them to more adequately meet their basic needs. These proposals include a universal basic income, a citizen’s dividend, and a legal framework for broad-based stock ownership in corporations. Extreme political fractiousness makes it unlikely that these recommendations will receive prompt and widespread legislative endorsement in most nations. In the meantime, we seem to be moving toward a twenty-first-century version of feudalism. How might we chart a different path founded on social inclusiveness and economic security? One option entails establishment of networks of interlinked worker–consumer cooperatives that organizationally unify production and consumption. Such modes of mutual assistance already exist and this book profiles several successful examples. If replicated and scaled up, worker–consumer cooperatives could smooth the transition beyond consumer society and facilitate a future premised on sufficiency, resiliency, and well-being.
