Digital Labor in the Wake of Pandemic Times

The last few years have been marked by a global economic crisis, strains on both institutions and labor markets, and unprecedented disruptions in the mobility of goods and people. Covid-19 has profoundly affected the way we work, causing an increase in people turning to digital labor platforms to deal with the uncertainties of an unstable economy. Even in the formal sector, remote work and automation have led to dramatic changes in the workplace. In navigating this new reality, it is crucial to examine how these changes are impacting workers, businesses, and society as a whole.

By bringing together researchers, workers, policymakers, and practitioners, the INDL-6 conference “Digital Labor in the wake of Pandemic Times” addresses the latest developments and challenges in the fields of technology-mediated labor, platformization, and automation. A special focus will be placed on speakers from the global South, as well as on original empirical findings and theoretical perspectives. Visit the Conference Website for the entire three-day program.

Follow the conference live stream here

The keynote speakers will include Kylie Jarrett (Maynooth University, Ireland), a pioneering researcher in the field of digital labor studies, and the author of “Digital Labor” (Wiley, 2022). In light of the concept of “workers’ assetization”, she will discuss commodification and class in the platform economy. The author of “Goodbye iSlave: A Manifesto for Digital Abolition” (University of Illinois Press, 2016) Jack Linchuan Qiu (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) will delve into labor-capital relations in the Softbank Empire. The topic of artificial intelligence and European labor regulation will be analyzed in light of recent changes in legislation by Aida Ponce del Castillo (ETUI, Belgium).

Also scheduled are two exciting plenary sessions. The first one is the documentary film “VO (Vehicle Operator),” directed by Nicolas Gourault. This short film takes us on an immersive journey into the lives of those who train self-driving cars. During the second panel, “Irresponsible technologies?”, a group discussion will explore the social responsibility associated with AI production within global supply chains. It will feature Dr. Lukas Sonnenberg (GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, Germany), Prof. Baptiste Delmas (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France), Dr. Fabian Stephany, Dr. Fabian Braesemann (Oxford Internet Institute, UK). The panel will be chaired by Uma Rani (Senior Economist, ILO, Switzerland).

INDL-6 is hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, coordinated by Milagros Miceli who leads the Weizenbaum Research Group “Data, Algorithmic Systems and Ethics”, Iraklis Vogiatzis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Paola Tubaro (Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Antonio Casilli (Institut Polytechnique de Paris), Uma Rani (International Labour Organization), Sana Ahmad (WZB) and Florian Butollo (Weizenbaum Research Group Lead “Work with Artificial Intelligence”).

The conference is co-organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO), Digital Platform Labor (DiPLab), and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB).