Flecker Space, Place and Global Digital Work

1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-137-48087-3
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 262 Seiten

Reihe: Social Sciences

This edited volume seeks to enhance our understanding of the concepts of space and place in the study of digital work. It argues that while digital work is often presented as 'placeless', work always takes place somewhere with a certain degree of local embeddedness. Contributors to this collection address restructuring processes that bring about delocalised digital work and point out limitations to dislocation inherent in the work itself, and the social relations or the physical artefacts involved. Exploring the dynamics of global value chains and shifts in the international division of labour, this book explores the impact these have on employment and working conditions, workers' agency in shaping and coping with changes in work, and the new competencies needed in virtual organisational environments. Combining different disciplinary perspectives, the volume teases out the spatial aspects of digital work at different scales ranging from team level to that of global production networks.    

Jörg Flecker is a professor of sociology and head of the sociology department at the University of Vienna, Austria. For more than 15 years he has worked on delocalization of ICT-enabled work and restructuring of service value chains.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Flecker, Jörg

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;6
2;Notes on Contributors;10
3;List of Figures;14
4;List of Tables;16
5;1: Introduction;17
5.1;References;23
6;Part I: Delocalisation of Digital Work;25
6.1;2: The Production of ‘Placelessness’: Digital Service Work in Global Value Chains;26
6.1.1; Introduction;26
6.1.2; The Mobility of Service Jobs and Tasks: Territorial and Organisational Spaces;29
6.1.3; Restructuring of Service Activities;32
6.1.3.1; Software Development;33
6.1.3.2; Shared Service Centres and Business Process Outsourcing;35
6.1.3.3; Crowdsourcing via Online-Platforms;37
6.1.4; Conclusions: Geographies of Service Value Chains;39
6.1.5;References;42
6.2;3: New Topologies of Work: Informatisation, Virtualisation and Globalisation in Automotive Engineering;46
6.2.1; Introduction;46
6.2.2; Spatial Dimensions of Informatisation;47
6.2.3; Methodological Approach, Field of Research and Sample Enterprises;50
6.2.3.1; Data Collection and Sample Enterprises;50
6.2.3.2; The German Automotive Industry;51
6.2.3.3; Automotive Engineering;52
6.2.4; Informatisation of Engineering: How Engineering Became Virtual;53
6.2.5; Globalisation of Engineering;55
6.2.5.1; The Importance of Codification of Knowledge;59
6.2.6; Conclusion;61
6.2.7;References;63
6.3;4: Algorithms that Divide and Unite: Delocalisation, Identity and Collective Action in ‘Microwork’;67
6.3.1; Introduction;67
6.3.2; Background: Dispersing Workers into the Cloud:;70
6.3.2.1; Detaching Work from Social and Institutional Contexts;70
6.3.2.2; Production of Placelessness and its Limits;73
6.3.2.3; Delocalisation, Collective Action, and Identity;75
6.3.3; Research Design: a Tale of Three Platforms;76
6.3.4; Dispersed Work and the Death of Organisational Identities;77
6.3.4.1; Dispersed Work in Everyday Life;78
6.3.4.2; Death of Organisational Identities;79
6.3.5; The Working Class Reunites Online?;81
6.3.5.1; Dispersion and Bargaining Power;81
6.3.5.2; Workers Reuniting in ‘Virtual Places’;83
6.3.5.3; Fragmented Identities, Limited Collective Actions;86
6.3.6; Discussion: a Variable Geometry of Individualised Actors;87
6.3.7;References;91
7;Part II: The Changing International Division of Labour and Regional Development;95
7.1;5: ‘Clouds’ in the Desert? Central and Eastern Europe and Ukraine in the New Division of Labour for Business Services and Software Development;96
7.1.1; Introduction;96
7.1.2; Background and Context of the Research;99
7.1.3; Conceptual Framework;100
7.1.4; Network Dimensions and Impacts;104
7.1.4.1; Low Costs Versus Knowledge Seeking;104
7.1.4.2; Place in Network/Value Chain;106
7.1.4.3; Temporality;107
7.1.5; Cognitive Dimensions and Impacts;107
7.1.6; Institutional Dimensions and Impacts;110
7.1.7; Discussion and Conclusions;112
7.1.8;References;114
7.2;6: Missing Links in Service Value Chain Analysis—Space, Identity and Inequality in Brazilian Call Centres;117
7.2.1; Introduction;117
7.2.2;Globalisation, Financialisation and the Emergence of the Brazilian Call Centre Industry;120
7.2.2.1; The Emergence of Call Centres in Brazil;121
7.2.2.2; Sectoral Logics and Changing Service Relations;123
7.2.3; Territorial Proximity and Regional Shifts;125
7.2.4; The (Neo-Taylorist) Labour Process and Social Segmentation;126
7.2.4.1; Neo-Taylorist Work Organisation and Control of Immaterial Service Work;127
7.2.4.2; Social Relations in Call Centres—Worker Profiles and Intersecting Inequalities;129
7.2.4.2.1; The Profile of Outsourced Call Centre Agents;130
7.2.4.2.2; Images, Identities and Persisting Inequalities;132
7.2.5; Conclusion;133
7.2.6;References;134
7.3;7: Local Development Policies, the Labour Market and the Dynamics of Virtual Value Chains: the Case of the IT Sector in the Municipality of Londrina, Brazil;138
7.3.1; Introduction;138
7.3.2; Global Value Chains and the Entrepreneurial Approach to Local Economic Development;140
7.3.3; Chains of Precarisation: the Case of Local Productive Arrangements (LPAs) for IT in Londrina;143
7.3.4; Results and Outcomes of Entrepreneurial Initiatives in Londrina;148
7.3.4.1; Linkages;148
7.3.4.2; Employment and Wages;149
7.3.5; Education, Age and Turnover of Employees;149
7.3.6; Conclusion;153
7.3.7;References;157
7.4;8: Creating Space: The Role of the State in the Indian IT-Related Offshoring Sector;161
7.4.1; Introduction;161
7.4.2; Global Production Networks and the State;163
7.4.3; Facilitating Spatial Development: the Role of the Indian State;165
7.4.4; The State and the Industrial Relations Space;169
7.4.5; Conclusion;173
7.4.6;References;174
8;Part III: Dynamics of Virtual Organisation and Mediatised Work;179
8.1;9: ‘My Company is Invisible’—Generating Trust in the Context of Placelessness, Precarity and Invisibility in Virtual Work;180
8.1.1; Introduction;180
8.1.2; Placelessness, Precarity and Invisibility in Virtual Work;181
8.1.3; Theoretical Framework—Levels of Participation;185
8.1.4; Methodology—What Does Lisa Offer as a Case?;188
8.1.5; Findings: Places, Placelessness and Coping Strategies;190
8.1.5.1; The Places of Lisa’s Virtual Work;190
8.1.5.2; Consequences of Placelessness: Precarity and Invisibility;193
8.1.5.3; Creating a Sense of Trust: Coping Strategies;196
8.1.6; Discussion and Conclusion;199
8.1.7;References;204
8.2;10: Towards a Model of Collective Competences for Globally Distributed Collaborations;209
8.2.1; Introduction;209
8.2.2; Towards a Process Framework for Assessing Collective Competences;212
8.2.3; Methods;215
8.2.4; Results;217
8.2.4.1; Identified Collective Competences for Ideation Cycles;219
8.2.4.2; Identified Competences for Decision Making Cycles;221
8.2.4.3; Identified Collective Competences for  Implementation Cycles;223
8.2.5; Discussion;225
8.2.6;References;229
8.3;11: Spatial Phenomena of Mediatised Work;234
8.3.1; Introduction;234
8.3.2; Theoretical Concepts Applicable to the Relation between Media and Space;235
8.3.3; Methods;236
8.3.4; Transformation of Space;240
8.3.4.1; Flexibilisation of the Workspace;240
8.3.4.2; Virtual Extension of the Workspace;242
8.3.4.3; Reduction of Distances;243
8.3.4.4; New Forms of Presence;245
8.3.5; Effects of the Spatial Phenomena on the Individual;247
8.3.6; Conclusion;250
8.3.7;References;251
9;Index;253