Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy
The critical literature on commercial monitoring and so-called “free labor” (Terranova, 2000) locates exploitation in realms beyond the workplace proper, noting the productivity of networked activity including the creation of user-generated-content and the profitability of commercial sites for socia...
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Surveillance Studies Network
2010
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ftqueensunivojs:oai:library.queensu.ca/ojs:article/4164 2023-05-15T18:31:41+02:00 Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy Andrejevic, Mark B 2010-09-09 application/pdf https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/4164 eng eng Surveillance Studies Network https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/4164/4166 https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/4164 Surveillance & Society; Vol. 8 No. 3 (2011): Marketing, Consumption and Surveillance; 278-287 1477-7487 Exploitation Free Labor Online Economy Surveillance Marketing Commercial Surveillance info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed article Theory Development 2010 ftqueensunivojs 2023-02-05T19:12:47Z The critical literature on commercial monitoring and so-called “free labor” (Terranova, 2000) locates exploitation in realms beyond the workplace proper, noting the productivity of networked activity including the creation of user-generated-content and the profitability of commercial sites for social networking and communication. The changing context of productivity in these realms, however, requires further development of a critical concept of exploitation. This article defines exploitation as the extraction of unpaid, coerced, and alienated labor. It considers how such a definition might apply to various forms of unpaid but profit-generating online activity, arguing that commercial monitoring redoubles the conscious, intentional activity of users in ways that render it amenable to a critique of exploitation. Given the role of commercial monitoring in the emerging online economy, the paper emphasizes the importance of supplementing privacy critiques with approaches that identify the ways in which new forms of surveillance represent a form of power that seeks to manage and control consumer behavior. Article in Journal/Newspaper Terranova Queen's University, Ontario: OJS@Queen's University Surveillance & Society 8 3 278 287 |
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Open Polar |
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Queen's University, Ontario: OJS@Queen's University |
op_collection_id |
ftqueensunivojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Exploitation Free Labor Online Economy Surveillance Marketing Commercial Surveillance |
spellingShingle |
Exploitation Free Labor Online Economy Surveillance Marketing Commercial Surveillance Andrejevic, Mark B Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy |
topic_facet |
Exploitation Free Labor Online Economy Surveillance Marketing Commercial Surveillance |
description |
The critical literature on commercial monitoring and so-called “free labor” (Terranova, 2000) locates exploitation in realms beyond the workplace proper, noting the productivity of networked activity including the creation of user-generated-content and the profitability of commercial sites for social networking and communication. The changing context of productivity in these realms, however, requires further development of a critical concept of exploitation. This article defines exploitation as the extraction of unpaid, coerced, and alienated labor. It considers how such a definition might apply to various forms of unpaid but profit-generating online activity, arguing that commercial monitoring redoubles the conscious, intentional activity of users in ways that render it amenable to a critique of exploitation. Given the role of commercial monitoring in the emerging online economy, the paper emphasizes the importance of supplementing privacy critiques with approaches that identify the ways in which new forms of surveillance represent a form of power that seeks to manage and control consumer behavior. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andrejevic, Mark B |
author_facet |
Andrejevic, Mark B |
author_sort |
Andrejevic, Mark B |
title |
Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy |
title_short |
Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy |
title_full |
Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy |
title_fullStr |
Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Surveillance and Alienation in the Online Economy |
title_sort |
surveillance and alienation in the online economy |
publisher |
Surveillance Studies Network |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/4164 |
genre |
Terranova |
genre_facet |
Terranova |
op_source |
Surveillance & Society; Vol. 8 No. 3 (2011): Marketing, Consumption and Surveillance; 278-287 1477-7487 |
op_relation |
https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/4164/4166 https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/surveillance-and-society/article/view/4164 |
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Surveillance & Society |
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8 |
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3 |
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278 |
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287 |
_version_ |
1766215479900241920 |