Using labor process theory to probe the “sharing” economy

Chai, Sunyu and Scully, Maureen (2018) Using labor process theory to probe the “sharing” economy. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018 (1).

Abstract

The “sharing” economy bears this shorthand name to represent new ways in which providers of services and those seeking services can connect through technological applications. In our paper, we foreground labor to understand how work is allocated, performed, monitored, and remunerated in the “sharing” economy. To capture more than metaphors like “sharing” can convey, we argue that an analytical framework is needed to characterize more carefully the exchanges between capital and labor. We propose that labor process theory, though formed in the era of manufacturing work, offers a useful analytical framework, anchored in the concepts of “obscuring and securing” how owners/managers derive profit from the value created by labor. Labor process theory offers a broad systemic perspective. While it is an analytical not a normative framework, it can provide a foundation for normative analysis of what we position as “distributing” the gains produced by workers, where distributing is the more apt concern than sharing. We derive three elements of a labor process toolkit – technological control, invisibility of owners/managers, and possessive individualism – and apply them to Uber as our case. We draw contrasts but also surprising similarities to “old” ways of working and also uncover how conflicts of interest between capital and labor portend ongoing instabilities.

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Contributors

Author: Sunyu Chai

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