Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/229896 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Citation: 
[Editor:] Vallas, Steven P. [Editor:] Kovalainen, Anne [Title:] Work and Labor in the Digital Age [ISBN:] 978-1-78973-585-7 [Series:] Research in the Sociology of Work [No.:] 33 [Publisher:] Emerald [Place:] Bingley [Year:] 2019 [Pages:] 121-143
Publisher: 
Emerald, Bingley
Abstract: 
The term “crowdwork” describes a new form of digital work that is organized and regulated by internet-based platforms. This chapter examines how crowdwork platforms ensure their virtual workforce’s commitment and control its performance despite its high mobility, anonymity, and dispersion. The findings are based on a case study analysis of 15 microtask and macrotask platforms, encompassing 32 interviews with representatives of crowdwork platforms, and crowdworkers, as well as an analysis of the platforms’ homepages and community spaces. The chapter shows that performance control on crowd platforms relies on a combination of direct control, reputation systems, and community building, which have until now been studied in isolation or entirely ignored. Moreover, the findings suggest that while all three elements can be found on both microtask and macrotask platforms, their functionality and purpose differ. Overall, the findings highlight that platforms are no neutral intermediaries but organizations that adopt an active role in structuring the digital labor process and in shaping working conditions. Their managerial structures are coded and objectified into seemingly neutral technological infrastructures, whereby the underlying power relations between capital and labor become obscured.
Subjects: 
algorithms
control
crowdwork
labour process
performance regulation
platform economy
reputation
Taylorism
Published Version’s DOI: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc Logo
Document Type: 
Book Part
Document Version: 
Accepted Manuscript (Postprint)

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