Standardization and Heterogenization: The Automation of Management and the Multiplication of Labour

Abstract

Algorithmic management is increasingly used to (semi-)automatically organise, measure and control labour in many sectors and industries. Based on empirical research in the (online and location-bound) gig economy, the paper argues that this digital automation of management allows for the quick and flexible inclusion of a broad range of workers in very diverse situations into production. This is shown, firstly, by the example of crowdwork platforms and their ability to integrate diverse and spatially distributed workers into labour processes. Secondly, the paper analyses the role of migrant labour for the urban gig economy and argues, that here, too, digital technologies and algorithmic management are to be understood as being part and parcel of a multifaceted process of the heterogenization of workforces. This particular effect and quality of algorithmic management and digital standardization is conceptually analysed in the framework of a multiplication of labour.