Gender, Labor, and Human-machine Reconfiguration in China

Description of research project:

Once known as the world’s factory, China has become
one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing digital economies. Its digital economy has
grown exponentially and attracted millions of people to chase entrepreneurial dreams
on digital platforms. This project looks at how digital technology has transformed our
work and raised new questions about the “future of work.” Specifically, it examines the
gendered intersection of new digital machineries, such as the algorithmic system, and
its impact on the labor process on digital platforms. Unlike factory workers in the old
days when machinery such as high walls and punch-card clocks exert direct physical
and time controls over workers’ bodies, digital machinery seems to allow for more
autonomy in the workplace. What does the interaction between human workers and
digital machinery look like on digital platforms? What has changed and what remains
compared to that in the manufacturing sector of a pre-digital age? The project draws on
ethnographies, interviews, and archives. All are welcome to apply; students interested
in economic sociology, science and technology studies, gender and sexuality, digital
technologies, platforms and algorithms, and work and labor may be particularly
interested.

Description of work that will be assigned to research assistants:

Research assistants will play an active role throughout this project, and duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to 1) collect and analyze policies, legislation, reports, and news
articles on digital technology, digital labor, and digital economy (in China and other
countries); 2) clean and organize interview transcriptions (training provided); 3) draft
analytic memos and synthesize information from interviews with archival analysis. No
knowledge of the Chinese language is required. There is the opportunity to continue
into Fall 2023.

Supervising Faculty Member: Greta Krippner

Graduate Student: Jun Zhou

Contact information: zhouxjun@umich.edu. Please include SURO or SOC 394 in the
subject line and attach your resume and unofficial transcript.

Average hours of work per week: 6-9

Range of credit hours students can earn: 2-3

Number of positions available: 3