Über-Alienated: Powerless and Alone in the Gig Economy

Scott Schieman,Alex Bierman,Paul Glavin

doi:10.1177/07308884211024711

Scott Schieman, Alex Bierman + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1177/07308884211024711

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Abstract

While the gig economy has expanded rapidly in the last decade, few have studied the psychological ramifications of working for an online labor platform. Guided by classical and modern theories of work and alienation, we investigate whether engagement in platform work is associated with an increased sense of powerlessness and isolation. We analyze data from two national surveys of workers from the Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study in September 2019 ( N = 2,460) and March 2020 ( N = 2,469). Analyses reveal greater levels of powerlessness and loneliness among platform workers—a pattern that is not fully explained by their higher levels of financial strain. Additional analyses of platform activity reveal that rideshare driving is more strongly associated with powerlessness and isolation than engagement in online crowdwork. We interpret our findings in light of platform firms’ use of algorithmic control and distancing strategies that may undermine worker autonomy and social connection.

Highlights

The context of work plays a substantial role in the study of the foundations of alienation, stretching back to the classical origins of the concept of alienation
Platform work in the gig economy fits the conditions of work delineated in previous research that foment perceptions of powerlessness and social isolation, but platform gig work presents ideal conditions for powerlessness and loneliness as manifestations of alienation
Marx’s theorizing on the consequences of working conditions for alienation has in particular served to link the structural conditions of work to perceptions of powerlessness (Mirowsky & Ross, 2003)

Summary

Introduction

The context of work plays a substantial role in the study of the foundations of alienation, stretching back to the classical origins of the concept of alienation. Alienating conditions of labor could be seen as structural arrangements in which workers were deprived of control over the means of production and defined by the surplus value of their labor An individual was “estranged from the product of his labor, from his life-activity” The focus of alienation on estrangement from the product of our labor and others has continued into more modern conceptualizations, which argue that “at a fundamental level, alienation refers to distancing or detachment from others or things” The focus of alienation on estrangement from the product of our labor and others has continued into more modern conceptualizations, which argue that “at a fundamental level, alienation refers to distancing or detachment from others or things” (Chiaburu et al, 2014, p. 25)

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