The Digital Studies Center welcomes Dr. Trebor Scholz, Associate Professor of Culture and Media at the New School, to present, “Own This! How to Take Back the Internet,” on Thursday, February 27, from 12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m., at the Digital Commons in Johnson Park. All are welcome to this free event. Contact Doreen Wheeler at wheelerd@camden.rutgers.edu with questions or concerns.
Abstract
In this talk, Dr. Trebor Scholz will discuss his work bringing cooperative principles into the gig economy. This work responds to labor exploitation, especially among marginalized groups, such as low-caste women in India’s informal labor sector, bicycle couriers in Ghana, and fishers in Mexico and South Africa. He will describe how this work is guided by a platform cooperatives model, which has led to 643 projects across 53 countries. These projects defy the centralized nature of traditional tech platforms and explore how worker and multi-stakeholder cooperatives can thrive in the gig economy under specific conditions, such as legislative support, sheltered markets, and alliances with unions or social movements. Dr. Scholz will also touch on the broader academic discourse emerging from this work, including “solidarity tech” and its focus on groups, from sex workers to musicians.