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  5. How algorithms are reshaping the exploitation of labour‑power: insights into the process of labour invisibilization in the platform economy
 
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How algorithms are reshaping the exploitation of labour‑power: insights into the process of labour invisibilization in the platform economy

Author(s)
Cini, Lorenzo  
Uri
http://hdl.handle.net/10197/24715
Date Issued
2023-09
Date Available
2023-08-29T08:39:21Z
Abstract
Marx conceives of capitalism as a production mode based on the exploitation of labour-power, whose productive consumption in the labour process is considered as the main source of value creation. Capitalists seek to obscure and secure workers’ contribution to the production process, whereas workers strive to have their contribution fully recognized. The struggle between capitalists and workers over labour-time is thus central to capital’s valorization process. Hence, capital–labour antagonism is structured over the capture and exploitation of unpaid labour-time. Building on Marx’s labour value theory, as well as on some of its contemporary interpretations, I call this struggle over labour-time capture a process of ‘invisibilization’ of labour. I claim that this invisibilization process is still a relevant form of surplus-value extraction in contemporary capitalism, especially in the platform economy, characterized by remote but pervasive control by algorithms. The rediscovery of this form of surplus-value extraction and its manifestation in platform labour is the main contribution of this study. To corroborate this contribution, I compare the case of platform labour with that of textile-clothing, where value production is more clearly based on the classical forms of surplus-value extraction (i.e., absolute and relative). This comparison helps to cast a new light on the nexus between work-process transformations and surplus-value creation, which is the core of the Marxian labour theory of value, and which – I argue – is crucial to understanding contemporary capitalist developments.
Sponsorship
European Commission
Other Sponsorship
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action
COntesting GOvernance by NUmbers: The Mobilizations of Food Delivery Couriers across Europe in Time of the Pandemic (COGONU)
Open Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Springer
Journal
Theory and Society
Volume
52
Start Page
885
End Page
911
Copyright (Published Version)
2023 the Author
Subjects

Capital

Invisibilization of l...

Labour-power

Labour-time capture

Platform work

Value

DOI
10.1007/s11186-023-09520-9
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ie/
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Cini_2023_How algorithms are reshaping the exploitation.pdf

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Owning collection
Business Research Collection

Item descriptive metadata is released under a CC-0 (public domain) license: https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/cc0/.
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