Standard Grant: Digital Platforms and the Mediation of Technological Change

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports a research project that studies emerging platform economics; three platforms are to be studied, those operated by Uber, Airbnb, and Amazon The project will contribute to theoretical understandings of emerging platform economies by bringing to light the ways that local environments mediate platform capitalism and to what effect. More broadly, it will contribute to NSF's research-focused Big Idea, "Work at the Human-Technology Frontier: Shaping the Future." Digital platforms provide the fundamental infrastructure for independent contractors working in the "gig economy" as well as for workers in the warehousing and shipping organizations that handle distribution for companies like Amazon. By generating findings about local mediation of platform capitalism, this study will produce recommendations for regional governments and firms looking to navigate these market shifts intelligently. The results of this project are to be disseminated via separate reports for regional governments, logistics and shipping organizations, independent contractors, and labor unions; accessible publications in popular outlets; an undergraduate course on platform economies; and the training and support of a doctoral student working in this area. This project will analyze how local environments mediate platform capitalism through an empirical inquiry that focuses on the translation of digital platforms into urban regions in the US. Surveillance is key to these translations; all platform-mediated commercial interactions are designed to generate data that can be harnessed for building consumer profiles, mapping and predicting trends, and manipulating individual and group behavior. The platforms to be studied are those operated by Uber, Airbnb, and Amazon. Three primary research questions will guide this inquiry: (1) How are local organizational forms and functions altered in response to platform capitalism? (2) What resistances and affordances are presented by existing technological infrastructures? and (3) How does local cultural practice mediate the deployment and use of digital platforms? To address these questions, the researcher will use multiple qualitative methods including content analysis of industry, media, and government documents; 30 semi-structured interviews with key informants; and spatial mapping of platform densities and flows across selected urban regions. The exploration of the socio-spatial implications of large-scale digital platforms will draw upon, synthesize, and contribute to surveillance studies, science and technology studies, and human geography literatures. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.