Operations of platforms : a global process in a multipolar world

Sandro Mezzadra, Brett Neilson

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

Abstract

![CDATA[The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has engendered a crisis of mobility whose multiple dimensions have affected the movement of people and “stuff,” border regimes and logistical supply chains, the daily life of people in many parts of the world and the organization of labor. In such a conjuncture, digital platforms have emerged as key devices to manage the crisis, in such diverse fields as communication, food delivery, and e-commerce. The booming profits and stock exchange value of companies operating in such fields have been defining features of the economic implications of the pandemic conjuncture, while platforms have become increasingly visible in public discourse. Accordingly, digital platforms have come to figure prominently among those “systems underpinning social and economic life” whose maintenance and reproduction played a key role in defining “essential labor” during lockdowns in different parts of the world. The connection between platforms and mobility management has been apparent in the pandemic conjuncture, while new forms of risk and new hierarchies emerged between people who were often compelled to risk contagion to provide services and people who were allowed to work from home and could do that also due to those services. Working at the intersection between the domains of circulation and social reproduction, the operations of platforms prompt significant mutations of capital and labor, which deserve a detailed investigation. At the same time the chapter follows the call to “de-Westernize platform studies” and connects processes of platformization of capital and labor with the turbulent emergence of a multipolar world (with a specific attention paid to China).]]
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCapitalism in the Platform Age: Emerging Assemblages of Labour and Welfare in Urban Spaces
EditorsSandro Mezzadra, Niccolo Cuppini, Mattia Frapporti, Maurilio Pirone
Place of PublicationSwitzerland
PublisherSpringer
Pages15-31
Number of pages17
ISBN (Electronic)9783031491474
ISBN (Print)9783031491467
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Open Access - Access Right Statement

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

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