Posts tagged: digital labour

Digital Labour at Economic Margins: African Workers and the Global Information Economy. (Forthcoming Publication)

I have a new publication coming out soon in the Review of African Political Economy, with my colleague Mark Graham. The paper is based on the research we have been carrying out over a number of years in Africa. It deals with the role African digital labour is playing in the global information economy and… Read More: Digital Labour at Economic Margins: African Workers and the Global… »

Mapping the Availability of Online Labour in 2019

In previous blog posts, we’ve mapped the availability of online labour in 2016 [1] and in 2017 [2] using the data provided by the Online Labour Index (OLI) measuring the utilization of online labour platforms [3]. The OLI is based on tracking all projects and tasks posted into a selected sample of platforms, using API access… Read More: Mapping the Availability of Online Labour in 2019 »

New Article: Does economic upgrading lead to social upgrading in contact centers? Evidence from South Africa.

Mark Graham and I have just published a new article in the African Geographical Review. The article’s main argument is that economic upgrading in the South African BPO industry can lead to both social upgrading and downgrading among contact centre agents. Anwar, M. A. and Graham, M. (2019) Does economic upgrading lead to social upgrading… Read More: New Article: Does economic upgrading lead to social upgrading in… »

Will AI kill development?

I had the opportunity to contribute to this new BCC World Service programme ‘Will AI kill development?’. Listen here, or contact me for an mp3 if you’re unable to access it. Summary Ian Goldin asks if robotisation will prevent poorer countries taking the traditional route to prosperity. Since World War Two, nation after nation has… Read More: Will AI kill development? »

New article – The Global Gig Economy: Towards a Planetary Labour Market?

Amir Anwar and I have a new article out in First Monday. The piece think through what a planetary labour market entails, how it is relationally, spatially, and discursively constructed, and who it benefits. I’m pasting the abstract and conclusions below. Graham, M., and Anwar, M. A. 2019. The Global Gig Economy: Towards a Planetary… Read More: New article – The Global Gig Economy: Towards a Planetary… »

New publication: Workers of the Internet unite?

I have a new co-authored article out, with two colleagues, based on our fieldwork with gig workers in Africa and Asia. The piece is about collective organisation in the gig economy and argues that as the gig economy grows in importance so too will worker self-organisation. Wood, A., Lehdonvirta, V., and Graham, M. 2018. Workers of the Internet… Read More: New publication: Workers of the Internet unite? »

The shape of work to come

Nature just published a published a long article about the ‘three ways that the digital revolution is reshaping workforces around the world.’ Amir Anwar and I were interviewed for it, and the article includes some of our findings from our research in Africa and Asia. You can read the full piece here: http://www.nature.com/news/the-shape-of-work-to-come-1.22839

CfP for sessions at GCEG: Digital Economies, Digital Connectivity, Digital Margins

The Geonet team will attend next year’s Global Conference of Economic Geography (GCEG) in full strength, running two hopefully lively sessions. Both run under the larger theme “Digital Economies, Digital Connectivity, Digital Margins.” Papers can be submitted between 15 Nov 2017 and 15 March 2018 on the GCEG website (https://www.gceg2018.com).   Digital Economies, Digital Connectivity,… Read More: CfP for sessions at GCEG: Digital Economies, Digital Connectivity, Digital… »

Mapping the Availability of Online Workers

In a previous blog post, we’ve mapped the availability of online labour in 2016 [1] using the data provided by the Online Labour Index (OLI) measuring the utilization of online labour platforms [2]. The OLI is based on tracking all projects and tasks posted into a selected sample of platforms, using API access and web scraping.… Read More: Mapping the Availability of Online Workers »