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In a world increasingly run by algorithms and artificial intelligence, Hatim Rahman traces how organizations are using algorithms to control workers in an “invisible cage.”
Inside the Invisible Cage uses unique longitudinal data to investigate how digital labor platforms use algorithms to dictate the actions of high-skilled workers by determining accepted behaviors, work opportunities, and even success. As Hatim Rahman explains, employers can use algorithms to shift rules and guidelines without notice, explanation, or recourse for workers. The invisible cage signals a profound shift in the way markets and organizations categorize and ultimately control people.
Unlike previous forms of labor control, the invisible cage is ubiquitous, yet it is also opaque and shifting, which makes breaking free from it difficult for workers. This book traces how the invisible cage was developed over time and the implications it has for the spread of new technology, such as generative artificial intelligence. Inside the Invisible Cage also provides organizations, workers, and policymakers with insights on how to ensure the future of work has truly equitable, mutually beneficial outcomes.
Inside the Invisible Cage uses unique longitudinal data to investigate how digital labor platforms use algorithms to dictate the actions of high-skilled workers by determining accepted behaviors, work opportunities, and even success. As Hatim Rahman explains, employers can use algorithms to shift rules and guidelines without notice, explanation, or recourse for workers. The invisible cage signals a profound shift in the way markets and organizations categorize and ultimately control people.
Unlike previous forms of labor control, the invisible cage is ubiquitous, yet it is also opaque and shifting, which makes breaking free from it difficult for workers. This book traces how the invisible cage was developed over time and the implications it has for the spread of new technology, such as generative artificial intelligence. Inside the Invisible Cage also provides organizations, workers, and policymakers with insights on how to ensure the future of work has truly equitable, mutually beneficial outcomes.
Price: $95.00
Pages: 288
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
06 August 2024
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520395534
Format: Hardcover
"Rahman’s book outlines several pain points that platforms should strive to solve if gig workers are to remain engaged and fulfilled. . . . It’s clear that gig-based work is here to stay, so it’s important that the platforms grow so that workers get a fair share of the pie rather than scrabble around in a race to the bottom. The aim should be for the growth of platforms to be as good for workers as it is for businesses so that we don’t confine workers to the ‘invisible cage’ they’re currently in."
"A timely reminder to managers of the risks to worker trust and talent relationships that arise from subjecting humans to algorithmic control."
"An excellent addition to the surge of recent scholarship on the algorithmization of labor."
"A must-read for anyone interested in the future of work, technology and labour rights, especially as these issues continue to evolve with the rapid expansion of AI-driven platforms."
"[Rahman] challenges the assumption that algorithmic precarity is limited to low-income workers, showing instead that even highly educated professionals are subject to unpredictable, data-driven control mechanisms."
"A timely reminder to managers of the risks to worker trust and talent relationships that arise from subjecting humans to algorithmic control."
"An excellent addition to the surge of recent scholarship on the algorithmization of labor."
"A must-read for anyone interested in the future of work, technology and labour rights, especially as these issues continue to evolve with the rapid expansion of AI-driven platforms."
"[Rahman] challenges the assumption that algorithmic precarity is limited to low-income workers, showing instead that even highly educated professionals are subject to unpredictable, data-driven control mechanisms."
“Rahman’s book poses crucial questions on how the definition of work is evolving, how people find work and make a living, and how management strategies to control workers change over time. One promising area for future research is: what do spaces of resistance look like in online markets for high-skilled labor? Collectively, these insights make the book a valuable resource for undergraduate or graduate students with an interest in online labor markets.”
Hatim A. Rahman is an award-winning assistant professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Contents
List of Figure and Tables
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 A New Labor Market Paradigm
3 Ratings: The Driving Force of Algorithmic Control on TalentFinder
4 Laying the Foundations of the Invisible Cage
5 Inside the Invisible Cage
6 The Cascading Consequences of Living Inside the Invisible Cage
7 Reputational Interdependence: Why Workers Remain Inside the Invisible Cage
8 Implications for Theory and Practice
9 The Future of Control in the Age of Algorithms
Methodological Appendix
Notes
References
Index
List of Figure and Tables
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction
2 A New Labor Market Paradigm
3 Ratings: The Driving Force of Algorithmic Control on TalentFinder
4 Laying the Foundations of the Invisible Cage
5 Inside the Invisible Cage
6 The Cascading Consequences of Living Inside the Invisible Cage
7 Reputational Interdependence: Why Workers Remain Inside the Invisible Cage
8 Implications for Theory and Practice
9 The Future of Control in the Age of Algorithms
Methodological Appendix
Notes
References
Index