Call for Papers Special Issue nr. 45 | "Communication and the world of work"

10/23/2023

PRESENTATION

Since the first movements of the so-called scientific rationalization of work, communication processes have entered the world of work. From written or oral prescriptions, from meetings to orders from immediate agents (managers and bosses), from the Taylorist/Fordist model to Toyotism, we see the intensification of communication strategies in work management.

 

In the 2000s, the technological hegemony of Silicon Valley emerged in an explosive connection with the neoliberal order, giving rise to a new business model: companies that control digital technology and organize themselves as platforms for different profiles and economic interests.

 

These companies have in common the algorithmic management of work, data collection, the use of "artificial intelligence" to constantly update algorithmic programming, the sale of profiles on the advertising market, and the management of public life and social relations. Examples abound: interference in elections, leaked data, political and religious polarization, and circulation of disinformation.

 

These companies operate within the logic of time-space compression, enhancing the circulation of information for the production, purchase, and sale of goods of all kinds. Work is no exception to this logic. The "platformization" or "uberisation" of work has spread worldwide, especially in Latin American countries, where crowds of workers are waiting for any opportunity to sell their labor power.

 

The business model of these companies disrupts the world of work as we know it, de-specializes professional profiles, and causes uncertainty of all kinds. The rapid and continuous pace of change creates an environment of insecurity, a minefield for new generations' professional and intellectual training.

 

Workers in the communications, arts, and culture sectors are also experiencing this complicated situation to stay in the profession. Precarization, loss of rights, harassment, violence, and the disorganization of professional ties have hit everyone hard.

 

The algorithmic management of work has reinforced stereotypes and prejudices, causing racist and sexist actions to be repeated. The hegemonic model of technology use has imposed itself to obliterate other possible ways of appropriating humanity's knowledge. But there is resistance. Other forms of technology are possible. Democratic nation-states, civil society, and popular movements need to act for informational sovereignty, regulating the business model of these companies and seeking alternative technologies. Workers are resisting, organizing other operating logics in the sale of their workforce: alternative arrangements, cooperatives, new types of associations, and unions are emerging, still fragile, but hopeful initiatives are appearing in all countries.

 

Suggested topics:

Based on these initial ideas, we propose the following thematic topics to authors as guidelines for submitting articles.

 

  • ways in which digital technologies and platformization alter the world of work of communicators: insertion into the logic of capitalist development, the impact on quality of life, distribution of wealth, political participation, and democracy. 
  • gender perspective, racial and class identities in research into work on communication platforms. 
  • the formulation of public policies, freedom of expression, workers' rights and the promotion of decent work. 
  • changes in the world of work for journalists and communicators; changes in professional profiles and production processes.
  • the impact of digitalization on the world of communication work: productive restructuring, polyvalence, precariousness, deprofessionalization.
  • datification of work, implications for the activities of communication professionals.
  • control and algorithmic management of digital platforms in the world of communication work.
  • artificial intelligence in the click economy and the ethical implications for professional deontologies.
  • communication as a concept and practice structuring transformations in the world of work. 
  • communication processes as rationalization of work organization.
  • independent and cooperative arrangements of communication workers and the possibility of alternative organization to the logic of platformization.
  • new functions that emerge from the platformization of communication work.



References

ANTUNES, Ricardo. Os sentidos do trabalho: ensaio sobre a afirmação e a negação do

trabalho. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2002.

 

______ (org.) Uberização, trabalho digital e indústria 4.0. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2020.

ABÍLIO, Ludmila Costhek. Uberização: a era do trabalhador just-in-time? Questões do

trabalho. Estudos Avançados, USP. 34 (98) • Jan-Apr 2020. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0103-4014.2020.3498.008

 

BARROS, Janaina V. et. al. A plataformização do trabalho jornalístico: dimensões, regime de publicação e agenda de pesquisa. Avatares. Comunicación y Cultura. UBA, Buenos Aires, N. 21, 2021. https://publicaciones.sociales.uba.ar/index.php/avatares/article/view/6320

 

FIGARO, Roseli. Comunicação e trabalho. Estudos de Recepção: o mundo do trabalho como mediação da comunicação. São Paulo: Anita, 2001.

 

GILLESPIE, T. A relevância dos algoritmos. Parágrafo, v. 6, n. 1, p. 97, jan./abr. 2018.

 

GROHMANN, Rafael. Plataformas controladas por trabalhadores. In: ANTUNES, R. ______(org.) Icebergs à deriva. O trabalho nas plataformas digitais. São Paulo: Boitempo, 2023.

 

HELMOND, Anne. The platformization of the web: making web data platform ready. Social Media + Society, Thousand Oaks, v. 1, n. 2, 2015. Disponível em: <http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305115603080>.

 

MODA, Felipe Bruner. Trabalho por aplicativo: As práticas gerenciais e as condições de trabalho dos motoristas da Uber. Dissertação (mestrado em ciências sociais) — eflchUnifesp, Guarulhos, 2020.

 

REBECHI, Claudia Nociolini. Relações de comunicação entre organizações e trabalhadores no contexto da plataformização do trabalho. São Paulo, Revista Organicom, v. 19, n. 38, p. 82-92, 2022.

SRNICEK, Nick. (2018). Capitalismo de plataformas. Buenos Aires: Caja Negra Editora.

 

VIDIGAL, Viviane. Periciando a caixa de pandora: os segredos da gestão algorítmica do trabalho. Teoria Jurídica Contemporânea. Vol 6, 2021 PPGD/UFRJ – ISSN 2526-0464, ID: e44817 DOI: 10.21875/tjc.v6i0.44817



GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

Deadline for submitting articles: March 30, 2024

The texts must follow the norms of the journal, which are available at: http://revista.pubalaic.org/index.php/alaic/about/submissions 

 

OPEN ARTICLES AND REVIEWS

Remember that ALAIC receives open articles (within the scope of the journal), interviews and reviews on a continuous basis, regardless of the dates of the dossiers.

 

GUESTS COORDINATORS OF THE DOSSIER

Roseli Figaro, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Contact: roselifigaro@usp.br

 

Claudia Nociolini Rebechi, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Brazil

Contact: claudiarebechi@utfpr.edu.br

 

Gabriel Kaplún, Universidad de La República, Uruguay

Contact: gabriel.kaplun@fic.edu.uy

 

José Miguel Pereira, Pontifícia Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá, Colombia

Contact: jmpereira@javeriana.edu.co

 

Teresita Vargas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Contact: teresitavargas@yahoo.com.ar