[ICTs-and-Society] Uppsala conference: Plenary session 5 “Work, Class, Gender and,Proletarianization in the Age of Knowledge, the Internet and Communication” (Ursula Huws, Catherine McKercher)

[Vass J.M.]

Dear All,

This is an interesting discussion!  A lot would depend on the definition of the 'Cybertariat'.  On the face of it this would include everyone with Internet access.  The question is how does access lead to differences in outcome for lifecourse stability and cohesion (ie what are the performative criteria?).  Guy Standing's recent work on 'The Precariat' sees the Internet as partly generative of a class living in a state of lifecourse 'precariousness' as the social and economic cohesion and stability that once constituted social relations (for better or worse) is eroded.  At an abstract level we can speculate on the role of the Internet as fostering 'mobilities and flows' (in the Urry sense) or 'liquid modernity' (in the Bauman sense) or 'networks' (in the Castells sense).  But the theoretical narratives we have at present render the question of outcomes (positive and negative consequences) entirely 'undecideable'.  I think this is because the performative level of analysis is largely missing.  Thus, for example, we cannot distinguish between a flow in the sense given it by Parsons in a relatively stable and cohesive modern order and the sense given by say Urry.  

All the best

Jeff


Dr Jeff Vass
Sociology and Social Policy
University of Southampton
UK

-----Original Message-----
From: discussion-bounces at lists.icts-and-society.net [mailto:discussion-bounces at lists.icts-and-society.net] On Behalf Of Marcus Breen
Sent: 18 March 2012 22:56
To: christian.fuchs at uti.at
Cc: discussion at lists.icts-and-society.net
Subject: Re: [ICTs-and-Society] Uppsala conference: Plenary session 5 “Work, Class, Gender and,Proletarianization in the Age of Knowledge, the Internet and Communication” (Ursula Huws, Catherine McKercher)

Thanks Christian,

The definition of proletarianization is open. In Uprising I have suggested a new meaning that incorporates the unregulated circulation of culture and values that collide with and challenge established Enlightenment ideas that have previously delimited social relations. The question for critics - marxist or otherwise - is how to characterize life in the Internet era of popular mobilizations and global capital. It is an important debate which is not only about labor and exchange value. Much more complex.

Cheers

Marcus

Marcus Breen
Professor, Head of School
Communication and Media
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Bond University, Gold Coast
Australia

On 18/03/2012, at 9:40 AM, "Christian Fuchs" <christian.fuchs at uti.at> wrote:

> Friday, May 4:
> 09:00-10:30, lecture hall 4 (hörsal 4): Plenary session 5 “Work, Class, 
> Gender and Proletarianization in the Age of Knowledge, the Internet and 
> Communication” (Ursula Huws, Catherine McKercher)
> Chair: Christian Christensen
> 
> Plenary session 5 will feature talks by Ursuala Huws and Catherine 
> McKercher.
> * Ursula Huws (University of Hertfordshire, UK): Virtual Work and the 
> Cybertariat in Contemporary Capitalism
> * Catherine McKercher (Carleton University, Canada): A Feminist 
> Political Economy of Labour and Communication: Precarious Times, 
> Precarious Work.
> 
> Ursula's and Catherine's talks will bring up questions such as the 
> following ones:
> What is virtual work? What is its role in the global division of labour? 
> How are the boundaries between paid and unpaid work shifting? How does 
> proletarianization of virtual work look like? What kind of class is the 
> cybertariat? Why have both Feminism and Labour Studies been marginalized 
> in Communication Studies? What are gender aspects of precarious labour 
> and knowledge work? How does the relation between the workplace and the 
> home look today? How are neoliberal working conditions shaping the 
> situation for female knowledge workers? How can collective action 
> improve the situation of precarious freelance workers?
> 
> Pre-conference discussions on these isues are welcome.
> 
> URSULA HUWS
> University of Hertfordshire, UK
> Virtual Work and the Cybertariat in Contemporary Capitalism
> ABSTRACT: This presentation will look at the emergence of ‘virtual 
> work’, examining the positions it occupies in global value chains, 
> including its place in mediating and shift-ing the boundaries between 
> paid and unpaid labour at either end of the chain: in pro-duction and in 
> consumption as well as in intermediate links. It will also examine the 
> interrelationship between the transformation of labour processes, the 
> contractual and spatial restructuring of value chains and the changing 
> global division of labour. Outlin-ing how a global reserve army of 
> information workers has developed in the last quar-ter-century, it will 
> conclude by asking whether this can be regarded as a common class, or 
> “cybertariat”.
> 
> SPEAKER INFO: Ursula Huws is Professor of Labour and Globalisation at 
> the University of Hertfordshire Business School. University of 
> Hertfordshire Business School and Uni-versity of Hertfordshire Business 
> School and Director of Analytica Social and Economic Research. Her main 
> research interests are the social impacts of technological change, the 
> telemediated relocation of employment and the changing international 
> division of labour.
> 
> CATHERINE McKERCHER
> Carleton University, Canada
> A Feminist Political Economy of Labour and Communication: Precarious 
> Times, Precarious Work
> 
> ABSTRACT: As areas of research within communication studies, both 
> feminism and labour have typically been relegated to the margins. This 
> talk addresses the value of bringing together feminist and political 
> economic ways of thinking about labour in the media industry. In an era 
> increasingly characterized by non-standard work arrange-ments and 
> precarious labour, it recognizes the need to understand the relationship 
> of gender to the workplace and the relationship of the workplace and the 
> home. Specifically, I will examine the state of the freelance journalist 
> in North America, an occupa-tion that is increasingly seen as “women’s 
> work.” A number of conditions have given rise to the precariously 
> employed woman journalist, including declining employment in the news 
> business, increasing reliance on free content provided by student 
> interns, the feminization of the student body in journalism schools, and 
> the imposition of freelance contracts that demand more and more rights 
> over the freelancer’s work. Many young women journalists, especially 
> those with children, see freelance journalism as a way to maintain a 
> toehold in the creative class, offering flexibility and market-based pay 
> and the chance to work from home. The reality, however, is that 
> flexibility means precarity, and market-based pay lags significantly 
> behind the pay for full-time work. In recent years, freelancers have 
> begun exploring collective action in hopes of improving their social and 
> material conditions. This talk will conclude by pointing to some 
> promising developments in this area, including initiatives by 
> conventional trade unions to organize freelance locals and efforts to 
> create new forms of workers organizations for freelanc-ers.
> 
> SPEAKER INFO: Catherine McKercher is Professor at the School of 
> Journalism and Communication at Carleton University. Her research 
> concentrates on labour in the communication industries, including labour 
> in journalism.
> 
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