Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2021 |
Outros Autores: | , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Sociologias (Online) |
Texto Completo: | https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/sociologias/article/view/113027 |
Resumo: | Drawing from experience of platform labor in one of the largest labor supplying countries, the Philippines, the paper demonstrates the role of an emerging labor category – that of digital labor influencers – who promote the viability of platform labor locally amid its precarious and ambiguous conditions. Through participant observation in Facebook groups, analysis of YouTube channels and videos, and interviews with digital labor influencers and workers, we present insights into the interventions that these influencers use, anchoring their strategies on what we call performing “digital labor bayanihan”: (a) coaching workers on the “possibilities” of the platform economy and on how to navigate its structural ambiguities, (b) by acting as “agencies”, they aid workers to span boundaries and fluidly move across platforms and job types to mitigate labor arbitrage and labor seasonality; and (c) bridging geographically dispersed workers, which allow them to form a supportive space where opportunities for labor are exchanged and debated. We argue that these affective strategies attend to Filipino workers’ labor aspirations through a community-oriented strategy encapsulated in a distinct Filipino cultural value bayanihan, which then shapes the collective “anchoring” of platform workers to navigate a precarious market. We explore the transactional nature underlying this “producer-audience” relationship, the activation of trust and influence through personalized practices and mediated encounters, and the power dynamic underlying these engagements. The paper shows that these strategies also set norms and standards in this largely unregulated sector, playing a role in how labor mobility or precarity are organized locally amid “planetary labor markets”. |
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Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economyplatform labordigital laborcrowdworkintermediationinfluencer economymicrocelebrityPhilippinesDrawing from experience of platform labor in one of the largest labor supplying countries, the Philippines, the paper demonstrates the role of an emerging labor category – that of digital labor influencers – who promote the viability of platform labor locally amid its precarious and ambiguous conditions. Through participant observation in Facebook groups, analysis of YouTube channels and videos, and interviews with digital labor influencers and workers, we present insights into the interventions that these influencers use, anchoring their strategies on what we call performing “digital labor bayanihan”: (a) coaching workers on the “possibilities” of the platform economy and on how to navigate its structural ambiguities, (b) by acting as “agencies”, they aid workers to span boundaries and fluidly move across platforms and job types to mitigate labor arbitrage and labor seasonality; and (c) bridging geographically dispersed workers, which allow them to form a supportive space where opportunities for labor are exchanged and debated. We argue that these affective strategies attend to Filipino workers’ labor aspirations through a community-oriented strategy encapsulated in a distinct Filipino cultural value bayanihan, which then shapes the collective “anchoring” of platform workers to navigate a precarious market. We explore the transactional nature underlying this “producer-audience” relationship, the activation of trust and influence through personalized practices and mediated encounters, and the power dynamic underlying these engagements. The paper shows that these strategies also set norms and standards in this largely unregulated sector, playing a role in how labor mobility or precarity are organized locally amid “planetary labor markets”.Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul2021-08-18info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion"Avaliado pelos pares"application/pdfhttps://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/sociologias/article/view/11302710.1590/15174522-113027SOCIOLOGIAS; Vol. 23 No. 57 (2021): Trabalho em Plataformas Digitais: uma perspectiva desde o Sul Global; 84-111SOCIOLOGIAS; Vol. 23 Núm. 57 (2021): Trabalho em Plataformas Digitais: uma perspectiva desde o Sul Global; 84-111Sociologias; v. 23 n. 57 (2021): Trabalho em Plataformas Digitais: uma perspectiva desde o Sul Global; 84-1111807-03371517-4522reponame:Sociologias (Online)instname:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)instacron:UFRGSenghttps://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/sociologias/article/view/113027/64102Copyright (c) 2021 Comissão Editorial R. Soriano, Earvin Charles Cabalquinto, Joy Hannah Panaliganinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessSoriano, Cheryll Ruth R.Cabalquinto, Earvin CharlesPanaligan, Joy Hannah2021-08-30T19:07:42Zoai:seer.ufrgs.br:article/113027Revistahttps://seer.ufrgs.br/sociologiasPUBhttps://seer.ufrgs.br/sociologias/oai||revsoc@ufrgs.br1807-03371517-4522opendoar:2021-08-30T19:07:42Sociologias (Online) - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy |
title |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy |
spellingShingle |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R. platform labor digital labor crowdwork intermediation influencer economy microcelebrity Philippines |
title_short |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy |
title_full |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy |
title_fullStr |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy |
title_sort |
Performing “digital labor bayanihan”: strategies of influence and survival in the platform economy |
author |
Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R. |
author_facet |
Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R. Cabalquinto, Earvin Charles Panaligan, Joy Hannah |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Cabalquinto, Earvin Charles Panaligan, Joy Hannah |
author2_role |
author author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Soriano, Cheryll Ruth R. Cabalquinto, Earvin Charles Panaligan, Joy Hannah |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
platform labor digital labor crowdwork intermediation influencer economy microcelebrity Philippines |
topic |
platform labor digital labor crowdwork intermediation influencer economy microcelebrity Philippines |
description |
Drawing from experience of platform labor in one of the largest labor supplying countries, the Philippines, the paper demonstrates the role of an emerging labor category – that of digital labor influencers – who promote the viability of platform labor locally amid its precarious and ambiguous conditions. Through participant observation in Facebook groups, analysis of YouTube channels and videos, and interviews with digital labor influencers and workers, we present insights into the interventions that these influencers use, anchoring their strategies on what we call performing “digital labor bayanihan”: (a) coaching workers on the “possibilities” of the platform economy and on how to navigate its structural ambiguities, (b) by acting as “agencies”, they aid workers to span boundaries and fluidly move across platforms and job types to mitigate labor arbitrage and labor seasonality; and (c) bridging geographically dispersed workers, which allow them to form a supportive space where opportunities for labor are exchanged and debated. We argue that these affective strategies attend to Filipino workers’ labor aspirations through a community-oriented strategy encapsulated in a distinct Filipino cultural value bayanihan, which then shapes the collective “anchoring” of platform workers to navigate a precarious market. We explore the transactional nature underlying this “producer-audience” relationship, the activation of trust and influence through personalized practices and mediated encounters, and the power dynamic underlying these engagements. The paper shows that these strategies also set norms and standards in this largely unregulated sector, playing a role in how labor mobility or precarity are organized locally amid “planetary labor markets”. |
publishDate |
2021 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2021-08-18 |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion "Avaliado pelos pares" |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/sociologias/article/view/113027 10.1590/15174522-113027 |
url |
https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/sociologias/article/view/113027 |
identifier_str_mv |
10.1590/15174522-113027 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/sociologias/article/view/113027/64102 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2021 Comissão Editorial R. Soriano, Earvin Charles Cabalquinto, Joy Hannah Panaligan info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2021 Comissão Editorial R. Soriano, Earvin Charles Cabalquinto, Joy Hannah Panaligan |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
SOCIOLOGIAS; Vol. 23 No. 57 (2021): Trabalho em Plataformas Digitais: uma perspectiva desde o Sul Global; 84-111 SOCIOLOGIAS; Vol. 23 Núm. 57 (2021): Trabalho em Plataformas Digitais: uma perspectiva desde o Sul Global; 84-111 Sociologias; v. 23 n. 57 (2021): Trabalho em Plataformas Digitais: uma perspectiva desde o Sul Global; 84-111 1807-0337 1517-4522 reponame:Sociologias (Online) instname:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) instacron:UFRGS |
instname_str |
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) |
instacron_str |
UFRGS |
institution |
UFRGS |
reponame_str |
Sociologias (Online) |
collection |
Sociologias (Online) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Sociologias (Online) - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
||revsoc@ufrgs.br |
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