This book provides a unique contribution to the controversial discussion that surrounds the digitalisation and virtualisation of work. With a focus on the new formation of space and place, it critically discusses the idea that places in the context of work are increasingly losing their importance, and becoming more arbitrary with new technical possibilities. Theoretical considerations that deal conceptually with the understanding of space and work are taken into account, as well as empirical results from different professional and work fields across various regions of our globalised world. The book is applicable to researchers and students of sociology of work, media and communications, organization studies, workplace studies, labour process studies, economics, human geography, anthropology and learning sciences.

Chapter 1, 4 and 11 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Provides an analysis of changes in the relationship between place and work. Considers theoretical understandings of space and work as well as empirical case studies. Analyses trends in mobilisation, localisation, de- and re-localisation of work and the spatial consequences for workers.

Autorentext

Mascha Will-Zocholl is Professor at Hessian University of Police and Administration, Department of Public Administration, Germany.

Caroline Roth-Ebner is Associate Professor at the University of Klagenfurt, Department of Media and Communications, Austria.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Introduction to Topologies of Digital Work (Mascha Will-Zocholl and Caroline Roth-Ebner).- Section I: Geographies Of Digital Work .- Chapter 2.The Geography of the Digital Freelance Economy in Russia and Beyond (Andrey Shevchuk, Denis Strebkov and Alexey Tyulyupo).- Chapter 3. Supporting the Global Digital Games Industry: Outsourcing Games Production in Poland and Estonia (Anna Ozimek).- Chapter 4. Automating Labour and the Spatial Politics of Data Centre Technologies (Brett Neilson and Ned Rossiter).- Section II: Places Of Work .- Chapter 5. Doing Homework Again: Places of Work from a Historical Perspective (Christian Oggolder).- Chapter 6. The Spatial Production of Wanghong: Political Economy, Labour Mobility and the Unlikely Creativity (Jian Lin).- Chapter 7. Reconfiguring Workplaces in Urban and Rural Areas: A Case Study of Shibuya and Shirahama, Japan (Keita Matsushita).- Section III: Virtual Working Spaces .- Chapter 8. ICT Enforced Boundary Work: Availability as a Sociomaterial Practice (Calle Rosengren, Ann Bergman and Kristina Palm).- Chapter 9. Virtual Spaces, Intermediate Places: Doing Identity in ICT-Enabled Work (Dominik Klaus and Jörg Flecker).- Chapter 10. The Duality of the Physical and Virtual Worlds of Work (Ingrid Nappi and Gisele de Campos Ribeiro).- Chapter 11. Synopsis: How Space and Place Matter in the Context of Digital Work (Caroline Roth-Ebner and Mascha Will-Zocholl).