<nettime> Submission reminder - CfP: Philosophers of the World Unite! Theorizing

[Christian Fuchs <christian.fuchs@uti.at>]

CfP: Philosophers of the World Unite! Theorizing Digital Labour and=20
Virtual Work: Definitions, Forms and Transformations
Special issue of tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: JULY 31, 2013
CfP: http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/announcement/view/14

Supported by COST Action IS1202 =E2=80=9CDynamics of Virtual Work=E2=80=9D=
-Working Group=20
3 =E2=80=9CInnovation and the Emergence of New Forms of Value Creation an=
d New=20
Economic Activities=E2=80=9C (http://dynamicsofvirtualwork.com,=20
http://dynamicsofvirtualwork.com/wg3/),
tripleC (http://www.triple-c.at): Communication, Capitalism & Critique.=20
Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society.

Editors: Marisol Sandoval, Christian Fuchs, Jernej A. Prodnik, Sebastian =

Sevignani, Thomas Allmer

In 1845, Karl Marx (1845, 571) formulated in the 11th Feuerbach Thesis:=20
=E2=80=9CThe philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways=
; the=20
point is to change it=E2=80=9D. Today, interpretation of the world has be=
come an=20
important form of labour that is expressed on and with the help of=20
digital media. It has therefore become common to talk about digital=20
labour and virtual work. Yet the changes that digital, social and mobile =

media bring about in the world of labour and work have thus far only=20
been little theorized and theoretically interpreted. In order to change=20
the information society to the better, we first have to interpret=20
digital labour with the help of critical theories. Theorists of the=20
world from different fields, backgrounds, interdisciplines,=20
transdisciplines and disciplines have to unite for this collective=20
philosophical task.

The overall task of this special issue of tripleC: Communication,=20
Capitalism & Critique is to gather contributions that help to an=20
understanding of how to critically theorize digital labour, virtual work =

and related concepts. Theorizing digital labour requires us to provide=20
grounded 1) definitions of digital labour and virtual work, 2)=20
systematic distinctions and typologies of forms of digital labour and 3) =

theorizing the transformations that digital labour is undergoing.

All submitted papers should be theoretical and profoundly engage with=20
the meanings of various concepts. Rather than presenting case studies,=20
papers should focus on fundamental theoretical concepts and discuss=20
definitions. They can also explore the relations between concepts, the=20
historical development of these concepts, typologies and the relevance=20
of different theoretical approaches. The special issue is interested in=20
theorizing the broader picture of digital labour.

We welcome submissions that cover one or more of the following or=20
related questions.

1) Concepts of Labour

* How should concepts such of work and labour be defined and what are=20
the implications of these definitions for understanding digital labour=20
and virtual work?
* Which theoretical or philosophical definitions of work and labour=20
exist and which of them are meaningful for understanding virtual work=20
and digital labour?
* What is the difference between labour and digital labour? What is part =

of digital labour and what is not? Which online, offline, knowledge,=20
physical, industrial, agricultural etc forms of work are part of it or=20
not part of it? Is digital labour only knowledge labour that happens=20
online or do we have to extend the concept to the offline realms and=20
physical labour? Where is the demarcation line? Is digital labour also=20
labour where digital technologies are of vast importance or not? Does=20
digital labour involve the physical forms of work necessary for=20
producing digital labour?
* Is there a difference between 'work' and 'labour' and if so, how does=20
it matter for the discussion of digital labour and virtual work?
* What is the role of Karl Marx=E2=80=99 theory of labour and surplus val=
ue for=20
understanding digital labour and virtual work?
* Is the traditional distinction between the material base and=20
superstructure in the realm of social media and digital labour still=20
valid or does it become blurred or undermined? Are new information and=20
communication technologies and social media, their production and use=20
(n)either part of the base (n)or the superstructure or are they part of=20
both?
*If in the agricultural and industrial age land and nature have been the =

traditional objects of labour, how do the objects of labour and=20
productive forces look like in the world of digital media and digital=20
labour and how are these productive forces linked to class relations?

* What is meant by concepts such as digital labour, telework, virtual=20
work, cyberwork, immaterial labour, knowledge labour, creative work,=20
cultural labour, communicative labour, informational work, digital=20
craft, service work, prosumption, consumption work, online work,=20
audience labour, playbour (play labour) in the context of digital media? =

How should they be defined? How are they related? How have they=20
developed historically? How are these concepts related to the wider=20
social context and the existing capitalist order? How can a systematic=20
typology of the existing literature in this research field be=20
constructed? Should any of these concepts be rejected? Why? Why not? Do=20
any of these concepts especially matter? If so, why?
* What is the etymological history of concepts such as work and labour=20
in different languages and how have these concepts changed throughout=20
history? Which of these historically different meanings are important=20
for understanding digital labour and virtual work?
* What are historically new aspects of digital labour, what are=20
predecessors of digital work and which aspects of digital labour have=20
parallels to the pre-digital era?
* What is the role of the concept of value for understanding digital=20
labour and virtual work as well as =E2=80=9Cimmaterial=E2=80=9D labour, a=
ffective=20
labour, knowledge/communicative/information work etc in the context of=20
digital media?

2) Forms of Labour

* What is the role of agricultural, industrial, service and knowledge=20
work in the world of digital labour and how are they related? How are=20
different modes of production related to each other in the world of=20
digital labour?
* What are the important dimensions for constructing a typology of work=20
that takes place in online spaces (e.g. crowdsourcing, online gambling,=20
gold farming, turking, microwork, production of and trade with virtual=20
items, clickwork etc)?
* How can a typology of alternative forms of online work that rejects=20
the profit logic be constructed (e.g. free software development,=20
creative commons and copyleft publishing, Wikipedia collaboration,=20
peer-production, open access publishing, file sharing etc)?
* Which forms of labour are involved in the global value chain of=20
digital media, how do they differ from each other and how are they=20
related (e.g. mining, hardware assemblage, call centre work, software=20
engineering, transport labour, prosumer labour, e-waste labour etc)?

3) Transformations of Labour

* How can blurring boundaries between toil and play, labour and leisure=20
time, the factory and society, production and consumption, public and=20
private, the sphere of production and reproduction, economic value and=20
social wealth in the realm of digital media be conceptualized?
* What is the relationship between creativity, participation,=20
do-it-yourself culture on the one hand and exploitation, alienation=20
and/or emancipation on the other hand?
* What is the role of the concepts of the working class and the=20
proletariat for theorizing digital labour?
* How would the concepts of digital work and digital labour look like in =

a post-capitalist society? Does the post-capitalist end of the working=20
class also mean the end of and abolition of digital work? Or just the=20
end of digital labour? What are the anthropologically constant and the=20
historically variable dimensions of productive human activities? How=20
should they be conceptualized and named? How are they related to the=20
realm of digital media? Do concepts such as anti-work, zerowork, the=20
abolition of work, post-work and the right to be lazy take the=20
anthropological, creative and productive aspects of human life that are=20
expressed on digital media into account? What are the elements of=20
digital media activities that will continue to exist in a=20
post-capitalist society? What are the historically continuous and=20
discontinuous elements of digital labour?
* What has historically been the role of communications =E2=80=93 includi=
ng=20
digital communications =E2=80=93 in labour transformations and in the=20
construction of global labour chains (e.g. global division of labour and =

social interdependencies; the concept of collective worker /=20
Gesamtarbeiter; socialization of labour etc.)?

Deadlines:
Abstract submission: July 31, 2013
All abstracts will be reviewed and decisions on acceptance/rejection=20
will be communicated to the authors at the latest by the end of summer 20=
13.
Full paper submission: January 15, 2014

Please submit article titles, author names and contact data and=20
abstracts of 200-400 words to:
Marisol Sandoval, marisol.sandoval@uti.at

Marx, Karl. 1845. Theses on Feuerbach. In The German ideology, including =

Theses on Feuerbach and Introduction to the critique of political=20
economy, 569-571. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

About the Editors

Marisol Sandoval is Lecturer in Culture, Policy & Management at City=20
University London.

Christian Fuchs is Professor of Social Media at the University of=20
Westminster and editor of tripleC.

Jernej Amon Prodnik is PhD candidate at the University of Ljubljana=E2=80=
=99s=20
Faculty of Social Sciences.

Sebastian Sevignani is PhD candidate at the University of Salzburg's=20
Faculty of Cultural & Social Sciences and a research associate in the=20
Unified Theory of Information Research Group (UTI). Website:=20
http://sevignani.uti.at

Thomas Allmer is PhD candidate at the University of Salzburg and member=20
of the Unified Theory of Information Research Group. Website:=20
http://allmer.uti.at

About the Journal: tripleC

Editor: Christian Fuchs, University of Westminster
tripleC (http://www.triple-c.at): Communication, Capitalism & Critique.=20
Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society focuses =

on information society studies and studies of media, digital media,=20
information and communication in society with a special interest in=20
critical studies in these thematic areas.
The journal has a special interest in disseminating articles that focus=20
on the role of information (cognition/knowledge, communication,=20
cooperation) in contemporary capitalist societies. For this task,=20
articles should employ critical theories and/or empirical research=20
inspired by critical theories and/or philosophy and ethics guided by=20
critical thinking as well as relate the analysis to power structures and =

inequalities of capitalism, especially forms of stratification such as=20
class, racist and other ideologies and capitalist patriarchy.
tripleC is a transdisciplinary journal that is open to contributions=20
from all disciplines and approaches that critically and with a focus on=20
power structures analyze the role of cognition, communication,=20
cooperation, information, media, digital media and communication in the=20
information society. tripleC is indexed in the databases Communication=20
and Mass Media Complete and Scopus.


#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime>  is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org