275 research outputs found
"It's not a career": Platform work among young people aged 16-19
In the online gig economy, or platform work as it is sometimes known, work can be organised through websites and smartphone apps. People can drive for Uber or Deliveroo, sell items on eBay or Etsy, or rent their properties on Airbnb.
This research examines the views of young people between the ages of 16 and 19 in the United Kingdom to see whether they knew about the online gig economy, whether they were using it already to earn money, and whether they expected to use it for their careers. It discovers careers professionalsâ levels of knowledge, and their ability (and desire) to include the gig economy in their professional practice.
This research contributes to discussions about what constitutes decent work, and whether it can be found within the online gig economy. The results point to ways in which careers practice could include platform work as a means of extending young peopleâs knowledge about alternative forms of work. This study also makes a theoretical contribution to literature, bringing together elements of careership, cognitive schema theory, and motivational theory and psychology of working theory, in a novel combination, to explain how young people were thinking about platform work in the context of their careers
TRANSEUNTIS MUNDI, A NOMADIC ARTISTIC PRACTICE
In this practice-led Ph.D. research, I investigate how an artistic practice can respond to the migration phenomena performed by human beings across the planet over millennia ÂŹâ what I refer to as the millennial global human journey. Based on the idea of mobility, I chose to frame this research in the articulation of concepts deriving from the prefix trans: transculture, transhumance and transmediality. This research contributes to studies in art composition by developing the processes and concept of transmedial composition, mainly contributing to the field of New Media Art.
This investigation resulted in the work Transeuntis Mundi (TM) Project â a nomadic artistic practice that encompasses: the TM Derive and manual, the TM Archive, the TM VR work Derive 01 and two forms for its notation. Transeuntis mundi (TM), from the Latin language, means the âpassersby of the worldâ and metaphorically personify in this work the millennial migrants and their global journeys.
Based on proposals from the Realism art movement and the walking-based methodologies of Walkscapes and DĂ©rive, the TM Derive was created as a nomadic methodology of composition in response to the ideas of migration and ancestry. It is framed by the minimal stories ÂŹâ the form of narrative of this work, captured from field recordings with 3D technology of everyday life worldwide. This material formed the TM Archive, presented in the TM VR work.
The TM VR work Transeuntis Mundi Derive 01 is an immersive and interactive performative experience for virtual reality, that artistically brings together stories, sounds, images, people, and places worldwide, ÂŹas a metaphor of the millennial global human migration. This work happens as a VR application using 3D technology with 360Âș image and ambisonic sound, in order to promote an engaged experience through the immersion and interactivity of the participant.
This thesis presents and contextualizes these creations: the scope, references, concepts, origin, collaborations, methodology, technologies, and results of this work. It is informed and accompanied by reflexive and critical writing, including an articulation with references of works across different artistic media and fields.UNIRIO Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeir
Workersâ spontaneous struggles and resistance in the on-demand economy in China
This thesis concerns on-demand workersâ struggles and resistance in China and the question, in particular, of how the workersâ choices are structured by the particular legal, social and economic contexts within which they live and work. As a novel form of employment, on-demand work has gained popularity and has attracted a large workforce; however, the regulation of on-demand work is still in its early stages, leaving many workers without adequate labour protections. Many on-demand workers have expressed their grievances and discontent through a variety of individual and collective actions. What remains unclear is why they feel discontent and what factors influence their choice of different forms of struggle and resistance. These factors also give some indication as to how labour laws could be amended to provide effective protection of on-demand workersâ rights and interests.
Advocating an âeconomic sociology of lawâ approach to the study of labour law, Dukes (2019) suggests that contracting for work ought to be conceived of as social behaviour that is likely economically motivated and, at the same time, influenced by actorsâ perceptions of the applicable rules, social norms, and shared understandings of what is standard or fair or reasonable practice in the specific context. Here, this approach is used to analyse and explain how Chinese delivery riders, as the targeted participants in the qualitative research, think of their work and make decisions that are influenced by their economic interests and their perceptions of labour laws, social norms, and shared understandings.
The research illustrates that delivery riders have a multifaceted perception of their work. On the one hand, they experience precarious working conditions, disrespect, and discrimination under the bureaucratic and algorithmic control of platforms, worsened by the presence of a duopoly market. Compared to more stable factory jobs, on the other hand, on-demand work provides better opportunities for making money and enjoying flexibility and freedom within the confines of existing labour laws and social and economic circumstances.
Individual riders have attempted to improve their working conditions through both formal and informal channels. Due to a number of factors, however, ii
including the use of outsourcing by the platforms, the limitations of litigation, the unregulated nature of the platform labour market, unequal bargaining power, the lack of anti-retaliation laws and unreliable labour security administration, there is very little room for riders to voice their concerns. Riders have also attempted to âgameâ the algorithms and to use social media and mainstream news-reporting but these strategies are not always effective. When there is no good alternative, radical forms of resistance may occur, including self-harm and suicide.
On-demand riders have formed occupational communities and have used these to address the challenges collectively, however, the success of their protests can be inhibited by the weak trade union system and non-supportive laws and government attitudes towards collective action. Platforms may try to undermine ridersâ solidarity by using various repressive strategies. Moreover, the deteriorating employment environment also hinders collective mobilisation.
The current legal, social, and economic context constrains the individual and collective struggles of riders in a wide variety of ways. While they may have a basic awareness of their legal rights, on-demand riders show a strong tendency to prioritise the right to subsistence or the economic conditions necessary for subsistence when attempting to express their discontent. Prioritisation of the right to subsistence or the economic conditions necessary for subsistence is also reflected in policy documents issued by the government in China to regulate on-demand work. To truly improve the working conditions of on-demand workers, it would be necessary to grant them the right to strike with the support of strong trade unions and to improve their rights to social security
Disruptions as Opportunities
Disruptions as Opportunities: Governing Chinese Society with Interactive Authoritarianism addresses the long-standing puzzle of why China outlived other one-party authoritarian regimes with particular attention to how the state manages an emerging civil society. Drawing upon over 1,200 survey responses conducted in 126 villages in the Sichuan province, as well as 70 interviews conducted with Civil Society Organization (CSO) leaders and government officials, participant observation, and online research, the book proposes a new theory of interactive authoritarianism to explain how an adaptive authoritarian state manages nascent civil society. Sun argues that when new phenomena and forces are introduced into Chinese society, the Chinese state adopts a three-stage interactive approach toward societal actors: toleration, differentiation, and legalization without institutionalization. Sun looks to three disruptionsâearthquakes, internet censorship, and social-media-based guerilla resistance to the ride-sharing industryâto test his theory about the three-stage interactive authoritarian approach and argues that the Chinese government evolves and consolidates its power in moments of crisis
(Un)filial daughters and digital feminisms in China: The stories of awakening, resisting, and finding comrades
This thesis sets out to understand Chinese feminist struggles in a so-called digital era by looking at the experiences and practices of an emerging generation of digital feminists that came into light in Chinese feminist movements. Conceptually and methodologically, this research took inspirations from an interdisciplinary body of literature including feminist theory, sociology, media and cultural studies, girlhood studies and gender studies. Inspired by online ethnography and feminist participatory methodologies, it combined an online tracking of feminist events on Weibo with semi-structured interviews and social media diary study with 21 Chinese girls and young women.
This thesis explores the embedded and embodied experiences of these participants as they discover and learn about feminism, resist and challenge gender and sexual inequalities, and try to build connections with like-minded people within and beyond the digital sphere. By charting feminist responses and resistance to familial discourses and norms around girlhood and young femininity, I show the emergence of feminist subjectivities of (un)filial daughters that arises from but also comes to reconfigure gender and sexuality within a neoliberal and postsocialist context of patriarchal familism in China. I build upon the concepts of networked counterpublics and networked affects to explore how these (un)filial daughters are networked to carve out spaces for feminist discussion in social media. Employing an affective-discursive analysis, I also tune into how networked feminist resistance and alliances are formed not merely on the basis of how women and feminists talk about these issues but also how they feel
Active Commuting and Active Transportation
This book focuses on active transport as a way to increase physical activity levels. Active commuting and active transportation on foot or by bicycle create opportunities for physical activity, provide transportation options for those without a car, encourage social cohesion, and reduce contributions to air pollution
No woman's land:Feminist approaches to the ride-hailing sector and digital labor platforms in India
In this dissertation, I investigate the concerns, issues and opportunities for platform labor reform with a focus on the ride-hailing sector using Bardzell (2010)âs feminist lens. The feminist viewpoint keeps the marginal user at the center committing to equity, diversity, identity, empowerment, and social justice to improve the work conditions of gig workers in the Global South. By conducting in-depth qualitative interviews with the different stakeholders of the ride-hailing sector, and analysing case studies, media coverage, policy papers, and research reports, I suggest guidelines for redesigning the digital labor platforms
âSorry. I am what I am.â The life and letters of the South African pianist and opera coach Gordon Jephtas (1943â92)
Gordon Jephtas (1943â92) was born into an impoverished, coloured, single-parent family in South Africa. He began piano lessons after being intrigued by the harmonium player at the local church. In his teens he worked as an accompanist with the amateur coloured opera group âEoanâ in Cape Town, then moved to Europe to further his studies. His first big break came in 1972 when the Zurich Opera House appointed him to assist the conductor Nello Santi. Jephtas thereafter established an international reputation as a vocal coach of Italian opera, and Switzerland provided him with a liberal environment where he was free to express his sexuality. Both there and later in the USA, Jephtas worked with the biggest names in the opera world, from Renata Tebaldi to PlĂĄcido Domingo, Montserrat CaballĂ© and Luciano Pavarotti. He always longed to be accepted back in South Africa, but his attempts to return culminated each time in disaster because talent and experience meant little in a land where âwhitenessâ trumped everything. An official offer to be made an âhonorary whiteâ merely intensified his inner turmoil. Back in the USA, Jephtasâs professional success was tempered by private misfortune. He died in New York in 1992.
This book examines the life and career of Gordon Jephtas through the letters that he wrote home to May Abrahamse, a coloured singer with whom he had worked since his teens. They reveal in unique detail the life and achievements of a remarkable musician, but also the psychological damage wrought upon him by apartheid. Jephtas provides a fascinating case study of a gifted South African abroad, struggling with issues of race and sexuality at the height of the AIDS epidemic
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