This book provides a unique contribution to the controversial discussion that surrounds the digitalisation and virtualisation of work. With a focus on the new formation of space and place, it critically discusses the idea that places in the context of work are increasingly losing their importance, and becoming more arbitrary with new technical possibilities.
Theoretical considerations that deal conceptually with the understanding of space and work are taken into account, as well as empirical results from different professional and work fields across various regions of our globalised world.
The book is applicable to researchers and students of sociology of work, media and communications, organization studies, workplace studies, labour process studies, economics, human geography, anthropology and learning sciences.
Chapter 1, 4 and 11 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Author(s): Mascha Will-Zocholl, Caroline Roth-Ebner
Series: Dynamics of Virtual Work
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 306
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction to Topologies of Digital Work
1 Digitalisation, Informatisation and Mediatisation
2 Rethinking Places and Spaces of Work
3 Brief Introduction to the Contributions
3.1 Part I: Geographies of Digital Work
3.2 Part II: Places of Work
3.3 Part III: Virtual Working Spaces
References
Part I Geographies of Digital Work
2 The Geography of the Digital Freelance Economy in Russia and Beyond
1 The Geography of Online Labour in the Globalising World
2 History and Context of the Russian Online Labour Market
3 Methodological Approach and Data
4 The Geography of Supply and Demand
4.1 Freelancers
4.2 Clients
4.3 Demand–Supply Ratio
5 Main Trends in an Emerging Market
5.1 Geographical Clustering
5.2 Spatial Division of Online Labour
5.3 Decentralisation
6 Conclusion
References
3 Supporting the Global Digital Games Industry: Outsourcing Games Production in Poland and Estonia
1 Spatial Relations of Digital Games Production
2 Research Methods and Methodology
3 Digital Game Industries in Poland and Estonia: Findings and Discussion
4 Subcontracting Work in the Digital Games Industry
4.1 Digital Game Testers
4.2 Remotely Working Artists
4.3 Hybrid Companies: Subcontractors Who Just Want to Make Games
5 Conclusion
References
4 Automating Labour and the Spatial Politics of Data Centre Technologies
1 New Dreams—Old Nightmares
2 Racking and Stacking
3 Installing Data
4 The Automated State
5 Conclusion
References
Part II Places of Work
5 Doing Homework Again: Places of Work from a Historical Perspective
1 Meanings of Work
2 Places of Work
2.1 The House
2.2 The City
2.3 The Network
3 Conclusion
References
6 The Spatial Production of Wanghong: Political Economy, Labour Mobility and the “Unlikely” Creativity
1 The State, Platformisation and the Wanghong Industry
2 Becoming Wanghong
3 Infrastructure, Workplaces and Labour Relations
4 The Unlikely Creativity
5 Conclusion
References
7 Reconfiguring Workplaces in Urban and Rural Areas: A Case Study of Shibuya and Shirahama, Japan
1 From Place-Based Workstyles to Style-Based Workplaces
1.1 The Rise of Style-Based Workplaces
1.2 Officisation: Making a Workplace from Urban Space
2 Community of Style in Co-Working Spaces
2.1 Focusing on Community in Co-Working Spaces
2.2 Community of Practice and Community of Style
3 Case Study in Shibuya and Shirahama
3.1 Overview of the Study
3.2 Co-Working Spaces: Shibuya
3.3 Workationing: Shirahama
4 Conclusion and Discussion
References
Part III Virtual Working Spaces
8 ICT Enforced Boundary Work: Availability as a Sociomaterial Practice
1 Boundary Theory
1.1 ICT and Boundary Work
1.2 Boundary Control
2 Study Design and Method
2.1 Participants
2.2 Time Diaries
2.3 Semi-Structured Interviews
2.4 Analysis and Coding of Data
3 Results
3.1 Leaving Work Technology at Work or Bringing Work Technology Home?
3.2 Being Available for Family While at Work: Blood is Often Thicker Than Water
3.3 This Far, but No Further: No Go Zones and No Go Times for Work
4 Discussion: Taking Control of Boundaries Using ICT
References
9 Virtual Spaces, Intermediate Places: Doing Identity in ICT-Enabled Work
1 Conceptualising Identity Work
2 Consequences of ICT-Enabled Blurring of Boundaries
3 Occupational Case Studies: Fields of Blurred Work
3.1 Occupational Case Study A: Business Consultants
3.2 Occupational Case Study B: Virtual Assistants
4 Conclusion
References
10 The Duality of the Physical and Virtual Worlds of Work
1 The Physical and the Virtual World of Work
1.1 The Physical World of Work
1.2 The Virtual World of Work
1.2.1 Communication in Virtual Office Settings
1.2.2 The Virtual Office as a Component of the Organisational Crisis Management Plan
2 Methodology
2.1 Study 1 Results (During the First Lockdown)
2.2 Study 2 Results (Four Months After the End of the First Lockdown)
3 Discussion and Conclusion
4 Limitations
References
Part IV Synopsis
11 Synopsis: How Space and Place Matter in the Context of Digital Work
1 Geographies of Digital Work: Context Matters
2 Places of Work: About Changing Workplaces and Locations of Work
3 Virtual Working Spaces: Identity, Subjectivity and Individual Preferences
4 The Covid-19 Crisis as Laboratory for Future Work
5 Full Circle: A Return to Our Research Questions
References
Index
