Work and Labor in the Digital Age

This volume presents the most recent studies of work and labor in the digital age as it unfolds in both Europe and the United States.

One of the critical questions facing modernity concerns the reconfiguration of paid employment, which has been subject to wholesale changes that have widespread consequences for workers, their families, and the institutional structure that characterizes capitalist societies. A key driver of these changes has been the digital revolution and the rapid proliferation of the gig economy. Together with social network sites for hiring, the spread of robotics, and the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, they leave virtually no occupation untouched.

Author Biography

Steven P. Vallas is Professor of Sociology at Northeastern University in Boston, USA. He has written widely on the tensions and contradictions that often accompany the transformation of work and paid employment under contemporary capitalism. He is the author of Power in the Workplace: The Politics of Production at AT&T and Work: A Critique. His work has been published in the leading journals within sociology. He recently co-edited Precarious Work: Causes, Characteristics and Consequences (with Arne Kalleberg). Anne Kovalainen is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the School of Economics, University of Turku, Finland. Her research lies at the intersection of economic institutions, self-employment, and gender. She is interested in the social and societal aspects of economic life, gender as a theoretical concept, and knowledge formation, both in society and in sciences. She has held international fellowships at Stanford University, the London School of Economics, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.