The Global Labour Research Centre (York University), the Socialist Project, and the Centre for Social Justice will host a talk on “Understanding the 'Gig Economy': the Political Economy of Platform Capitalism” on Oct. 17 from 12:30 to 2pm.
Ursula Huws
The event features Ursula Huws, professor of labour and globalisation, at the University of Hertfordshire. She will discuss how the recent explosive growth of online platforms for managing labour has brought mixed responses.
Huws will explore whether it is a prefigurative model of a new post-capitalist form of work organization, or if capitalism is up to its old tricks. Drawing on recent research on "crowd work" in Europe, Huws will provide a critical analysis of platform capitalism, placing it in the context of the new wave of restructuring and accumulation following the 2007-08 financial crisis.
Huws is also the director of Analytica Social and Economic Research Ltd in the U.K., and is the editor of the international interdisciplinary journal Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation.
Huws researches the economic and social impacts of technological change, the restructuring of employment and the changing international division of labour for many years. She is currently chair of COST Action IS 1202, the Dynamics of Virtual Work and co-edits the Palgrave Macmillan Dynamics of Virtual Work series. Her most recent book, Labor in the Global Digital Economy: the Cybertariat Comes of Age, was published in November 2014 by Monthly Review Press. She is currently carrying out research on the growth of labour coordinated via online platforms, or "crowd work".
The event takes place in York Lanes 280N, and all are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served.
The event is co-sponsored by the Socialist Project, the Centre for Social Justice, and York University's Departments of Social Science and Geography.
For more information, visit the Global Labour Research Centre website.