Platform Labor in the Digital Economy (engl.) (Arb I) Bachelor-Course, Module “Arb” Part I (080289- SoSe23)

The rise of online labor platforms has been considered one of the most significant economic changes of the last decade. Scientific research has focused on a variety of aspects, highlighting the complexity and ambiguity of online labor markets as a highly dynamic field. Topics that have been addressed cover new forms of contingent work and labor market flexibility, which reflect longer trends of increasing precariousness. At the same time, new digital business models, platform strategies, algorithmic control, and online communities impact largely on how work is performed. Furthermore, the emergence of transnational online labor markets and the increasing power of large platform corporations has spurred discussions about the consequences of platform labor for national employment systems and calls for state regulation.
This seminar will deal with a limited number of those issues by analyzing and discussing selected studies that have been published over the last years in English-language journals. The aim is to determine the contours of a scientific field where plentiful research is conducted, but hardly structured around shared questions, coherent theoretical models, or methodologies.