Embedded reproduction in platform data work

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Information Communication & Society Pub Date : 2022-03-13 DOI:10.1080/1369118X.2022.2049849

Julian Posada

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引用次数: 11

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the experiences of Latin American data workers who annotate data for machine learning algorithms through labor platforms. It introduces the notion of ‘embedded reproduction’: the relationship between embeddedness, the degree to which non-economic institutions and their social environment constrain socioeconomic activity, and social reproduction, or the activities that nurture, maintain, and regenerate the workforce. The analysis of 38 interviews with platform workers suggests they are situated in a highly disembedded market due to the lack of regulations on the data production process, giving free rein to platforms to set rules to their detriment. This article explores how this disembeddedness shapes social reproduction by studying three forms of collective social support received by workers: from family members, neighbors and local communities, and online groups. The support of these networks is primarily local, depends on high levels of trust, and is gendered. These findings suggest that platform data work is unsustainable from an embedded reproductive perspective since platform intermediation leads workers and local communities to carry out the social and economic risks associated with this form of gig work. This research invites a dialogue between the embeddedness framework with social reproduction as well as a consideration of the importance of nature and natural resources in the study of social environments.

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在平台数据工作中嵌入复制

本文主要关注拉丁美洲数据工作者通过劳动平台为机器学习算法注释数据的经验。它引入了“嵌入再生产”的概念:嵌入性(非经济机构及其社会环境对社会经济活动的限制程度)与社会再生产(培育、维持和再生劳动力的活动)之间的关系。对38位平台工作人员的采访分析表明，由于缺乏对数据生产过程的监管，他们处于一个高度非嵌入式的市场，平台可以自由地制定不利于他们的规则。本文通过研究工人获得的三种形式的集体社会支持(来自家庭成员、邻居和当地社区以及网络团体)，探讨了这种脱嵌入性如何影响社会再生产。这些网络的支持主要是地方性的，依赖于高度的信任，并且是性别的。这些发现表明，从嵌入式生殖的角度来看，平台数据工作是不可持续的，因为平台中介导致工人和当地社区承担与这种形式的零工工作相关的社会和经济风险。本研究邀请嵌入性框架与社会再生产之间的对话，以及对自然和自然资源在社会环境研究中的重要性的考虑。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Information Communication & Society Multiple-

CiteScore

10.20

自引率

4.80%

发文量

110

期刊介绍： Drawing together the most current work upon the social, economic, and cultural impact of the emerging properties of the new information and communications technologies, this journal positions itself at the centre of contemporary debates about the information age. Information, Communication & Society (iCS) transcends cultural and geographical boundaries as it explores a diverse range of issues relating to the development and application of information and communications technologies (ICTs), asking such questions as: -What are the new and evolving forms of social software? What direction will these forms take? -ICTs facilitating globalization and how might this affect conceptions of local identity, ethnic differences, and regional sub-cultures? -Are ICTs leading to an age of electronic surveillance and social control? What are the implications for policing criminal activity, citizen privacy and public expression? -How are ICTs affecting daily life and social structures such as the family, work and organization, commerce and business, education, health care, and leisure activities? -To what extent do the virtual worlds constructed using ICTs impact on the construction of objects, spaces, and entities in the material world? iCS analyses such questions from a global, interdisciplinary perspective in contributions of the very highest quality from scholars and practitioners in the social sciences, gender and cultural studies, communication and media studies, as well as in the information and computer sciences.