Time Discipline And Space Production Of Platform Gig

With the progress of information and communication technology(ICT)and the rise of digital economy,gig economy based on Internet platform has increasingly become an important labor form and employment mode.Gig jobs on platforms such as delivery rider,online taxi driver and network anchor have increasingly become a popular career choice for young workers.However,under the surface of flexibility and freedom,gig workers are not only not free from the busyness and depression of wage labor,but also trapped in an urgent pace of life full of uncertain risks.In view of this phenomenon,this paper starts from the two questions of "how to realize the platform-dominated labor order" and "How to form the labor relations of gig workers dependent on the platform",and starts the research on the platform gig labor.At the same time,it also focuses on the subjectivity of gig workers,and discusses how gig workers resist the unreasonable labor order and unequal labor relations.On the platform gig this new labor form and labor group,formed a wealth of theoretical results at home and abroad.Foreign studies mainly describe the status quo of gig economy and gig labor market from a holistic perspective,analyze the relationship between gig and platform in jurisprudence and theory,and answer the question "why gig should be attached to platform".Domestic scholars pay more attention to the labor control of platform on gig and the actions,experiences and feelings of gig subjects,which are mostly case studies.It takes the paradigm of labor process theory as the mainstream and explains "how capital controls odd jobs to build its own labor order".There are some shortcomings in current research,such as separation of labor order and labor relations,fragmentation of empirical research,and neglect of time and space.The innovation of this paper lies in that it regards labor order and labor relations as two aspects of the same problem,breaks through the theoretical paradigm of labor process followed by the existing platform gig labor research,and introduces the perspective of "time and space" into the labor research,which is not only an expansion of the platform gig research ideas,but also an enrichment of the research problems of spatio-temporal sociology.The theory of social time and the theory of space production are the main theoretical sources of this paper.Both of them belong to the theory of space-time sociology and are the ideological origin of the sociological research of "time" and "space" dimension.The social time theory regards time as the framework of social life formed in the process of social interaction,among which the exquisite analysis of the social process of the formation of the time system in the industrial age,especially the key role of capital and labor,provides ideas for this paper to carry out the labor research from the perspective of time.Lefebvre’s judgment on "spatial production" as a mechanism of capital accumulation and the trinity of spatial relationship model have become the direct basis for the construction of the analysis framework in this paper.This paper selected "online teachers",a typical platform gig group,to carry out empirical research on the above issues.Through in-depth interviews with 17 lecturers and related personnel of Z platform,1-1/2 year of participatory observation,and questionnaire survey of 117 lecturers,this paper shows in detail how platform capital conducts "time discipline" on odd jobs within the three-layer "space" of its production.It is a micro process that forms the labor relations of odd jobs attached to the platform and builds the labor order conducive to their own accumulation and multiplication.This paper analyzes the feasibility of carrying out the study of labor from the dimension of time and space,returns to Marx’s labor theory,deeply discusses the relationship between time,capital and labor,expounds the internal relationship between "time discipline" and labor order,and points out the necessity of "space" replacing the traditional category of "means of production" in the digital age,thus constructing the analysis framework of this paper.Through an in-depth analysis of the labor practice of lecturers on Z platform,this paper finds out the mechanism of capital’s "time discipline" on odd jobs and the resulting labor order,and maintains lecturers’ dependence on the platform through the production of "labor space","regulation space" and "communication space",which provides a framework for "time discipline".The discipline mechanism of "time commercialization" has changed the connotation of time.Platform capital uses digital technology to produce "labor space",which ensures the smooth progress of this discipline process and realizes its own interests.The odd jobs represented by the lecturers on Z platform are disciplined by both industrial time and new time.The concept of "time commercialization" has invaded their daily life and changed their perception of time.By building a digital technology environment and attracting users and lecturers to join,Z platform builds a relationship space integrating labor and consumption and keeps expanding,making lecturers dependent on themselves and realizing "time arbitrage"."Time commodification" is a macro-discipline process that takes place in the whole social background.The capital represented by Platform Z utilizes and strengthens the discipline consequences,and the "standard curriculum system" is formulated to clearly define the connotation of time.This practice also covers up the extra labor of lecturers in "background time".In the "regulation space" of platform production,the capital further implements "time discipline".Platform capital for maintenance benefitsIn its own labor order,while producing "labor space",it is also producing "regulation space",whose function is to restrict the behavior of participants such as odd workers and users.The "regulation space" established by Z platform is a complex structure with hierarchical management embedded in digital control system.The platform exerts minimal control over lecturers through the digital system.Meanwhile,the company’s internal managers establish wechat "class scheduling group" to implement community management for lecturers,while the platform implements traditional hierarchical management of hired labor for its staff.Further disciplinary measures of Platform Z include: controlling the trading rights of time through the "presale system",and "overdrawing" the free time of lecturers to ensure the stability of their labor;"Time segmentation" changes the lecturer’s time structure,reduces the value of his free time,and encourages him to continue to invest more time in platform labor.In the "communication space",the platform creates a culture and ideology in line with the interests of capital,and facilitates the "willing labor" of gig workers.Z platform guides lecturers to join the "class grabbing game",creating a tense and stimulating working atmosphere,which is essentially a change of time rhythm;The "communication space" composed of "class ranking" and "lecturer exchange forum" strengthens the propaganda of platform culture and makes lecturers willing to participate in the "class robbing game".From the two dimensions of "time" and "space",gig workers resist the unreasonable labor order and unequal labor relations.Z platform lecturers establish time consciousness through self-time planning,resist the invasion of "time commercialization" on daily life,and reduce their dependence on Z platform by choosing a variety of sideline jobs.Some lecturers set up a "labor space" outside the Z platform through mutual management,and privately provide teaching services for users across the platform,transforming from an element of "space production" with capital to the main body of "space production".However,their space practice is also Mired in difficulties due to the lack of resource conditions and insufficient space governance.