[Air-L] CFP Gig Economy book

[Michelle Rodino-Colocino]

*Dear Colleagues:Call for PapersThe Gig Economy: Workers and Media in the
Age of ConvergenceEditors: Brian Dolber (Cal State University, San Marcos),
Chenjerai Kumanyika (Rutgers University) Michelle Rodino-colocino (Penn
State University), Todd Wolfson (Rutgers University) In 2016 the US
Department of Labor defined a “gig” as “a single project or task for which
a worker is hired, often through a digital marketplace, to work on demand.”
<https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2016/article/what-is-the-gig-economy.htm>
Although it is hard to measure how large the gig workforce is (by the US
Bureau of Labor Statistics own admission), it is clear that a new way of
working, managing, and profiting is rising on the backs of gig workers.
The “gig economy”-- the colloquial name given to the constellation of
app-based services that rely on contingent, “on-demand” labor-- is situated
at the nexus of transformations in communication technology, economics, and
culture. Companies like Uber, Lyft, and Amazon Flex, for example, promise
drivers the chance to “get your side hustle on,” “fund your dreams,” enjoy
“flexible hours” and “be your own boss.” For millions of workers, however,
these promises ring hollow. Low wages and a complete lack of protections
have left many struggling and desperate, in some cases prompting tragic
worker suicides. As a global phenomenon, the gig economy is being embraced
and challenged in a variety of ways in different countries by workers,
labor movements, governments, and consumers. Media and new digital
technologies play a key role in enabling and justifying the political
economic and cultural effects of the gig economy.   This volume draws
together research that examines the experience of and resistance to
exploitative aspects of the gig economy with a range of expertise in the
communication discipline (critical/cultural studies, policy studies,
technology studies), employing multiple theoretical perspectives (political
economy, critical race, feminist) and methodologies (ethnography, history,
discourse analysis, community-based participatory research) in a variety of
national contexts. We consider the roles that media, policy, culture, and
history play as well as gender, immigrant status, ethnic background, racial
identity, ability, and sexual orientation in forging working conditions in
the “gig economy.”List of possible topics:The political economy of gig
companiesWho benefits from gig labor?Experiences of gig workersExploitative
aspects of gig laborDeconstructing myths surrounding the gig economyGig
worker organizing campaignsCorporate PR, advertising, and policy
campaignsThe gig economy and consumer activismTechnologies of the gig
economy Surveillance technology and the gig economyGlobal perspectives on
the gig economyImmigration and app-based laborRacialization and app-based
laborGendering of gig workSexual harassment, sexual assault and gig
economySolidarity and divides among gig workersThe gig economy and the
culture industryMedia representations and news coverage of the gig
economyThe gig economy and the environmentUrban space and the gig
economyGig and green economies Gamification Historical perspectives on gig
workPlease submit abstracts of 350-500 words to gigeconomyproject at gmail.com
<{gigeconomyproject at gmail.com> by September 15, 2018. Authors will be
notified by October 15. Complete essays, between 5000 and 8000 words, will
be due by January 15, 2019. *


Michelle Rodino-Colocino, Ph.D.          "Enjoy the process" --my mother,
Associate Professor                        "Mangia" --my grandmother"  "Say
it" --my daughter
Film/Video, Media Studies, Bellisario College of Communications,
Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Interim President, American Association of University Professors (AAUP),
Penn State University Park Chapter

Penn State University
115 Carnegie, University Park, 16802
*Twitter: @roc <http://www.democraticcommunications.net/>ofem*
*Skype at rocofem*
michelle at psu.edu