How algorithms control workers

ePODstemology brings you cutting edge insights and analysis from early career researchers to help you cut through 21st century complexity. A major driver of that complexity is Algorithms - an increasingly ubiquitous yet remarkably opaque aspect of modern life, directing what you watch on television, who drives your taxi, what products you see when online shopping, and, increasingly who purchases your labour. This episode, regular host Dr Mark Fabian from the University of Warwick is joined by Dr Hatim Rahman, Assistant Professor of management and organisations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Hatim has a new book out studying the nature and effects of algorithmic management of high skilled workers trading via online platforms like Taskrabbit and Upwork. The Invisible Cage: How Algorithms Control Workers, available from University of California Press, traces how Algorithmic management perpetuates earlier trends in personal management like Taylorism and Weber’s Iron Cage of bureaucracy, while also significantly departing from these traditional modes. Hatim’s book also explores the regulatory, cultural, and institutional loopholes that algorithmic labour market platforms use to skirt existing labour protections and extract more value for capital, and considers how policymakers and citizens might respond to contemporary trends. 

Hatim’s website: 

https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/rahman_hatim.aspx 

Buy the book!

https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520395541/inside-the-invisible-cage 

Weber’s iron cage of bureaucracy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_cage 

Taylorism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_management 

Fair Work Consumer Reports: 

https://fair.work/en/fw/publications/fairwork-uk-ratings-2023-a-call-for-transparency/