Larry Diamond once referred to the internet as a form of “liberation technology.” But his most recent writings have warned of a “postmodern totalitarianism.” Most of the democracy literature on the internet has focused on social media and artificial intelligence. However, the sharing economy has had a similar impact on capitalism and society.
Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb have become familiar brands, but there are numerous commercial and nonprofit platforms. Juliet and I discuss how these networks have transformed work in the twenty-first century. Our conversation spans topics such as class identity, racial discrimination, and the challenges of regulation.
Juliet Schor is the author of After The Gig: How the Sharing Economy got Hijacked and How to Win it Back. She is currently Professor of Sociology at Boston College. Before joining Boston College she taught in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Schor is an internationally known scholar of labor, consumption, and environment. She is a former Guggenheim and Radcliffe Institute Fellow, recipient of the Leontief Prize in Economics, and the Public Understanding of Sociology Award from the American Sociology Association. She is the Chair of the Board of the Better Future Project.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. You can find After The Gig: How the Sharing Economy got Hijacked and How to Win it Back at Amazon or your local library. The music of Apes of the State is featured in the introduction and outro . You can find their music on Spotify or Bandcamp.
