Karin SCHWITER, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Anke STRÜVER, University of Graz, Austria
The platform economy is increasingly spreading to include care work. With the term care, we refer to tasks performed within the domestic sphere such as cleaning as well as child- and seniorcare in private homes. While there already exists a vibrant debate on platforms mediating crowd work, ride hailing and delivery services, the gigification of care has so far received comparatively less attention. With our conceptual contribution, we aim to bring together the existing literature on the phenomenon and reflect the societal implications of care labour being transformed into gigs.
For this, we first situate the current developments in the larger debate on the crises of care. We argue that digital platforms contribute to an accelerated commodification and gigification care and that platform mediated care becomes infrastruturalised. Digital platforms thus normalise care as a commodity – and seem to normalise gendered and racialised capitalism. We explore how care as gigs transforms understandings of care itself and the subjectivities of those who are buying and those who are providing it. Finally, we reflect the potential of platforms to intensify or disrupt existing gendered and racialised inequalities of who is expected to care for whom.
Mots clés : gender|care|digital|labour|work
A104790KS