Uberland

How Algorithms Are Rewriting the Rules of Work

Alex Rosenblat

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Paperback

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English

California Uni Pr Trade
15 October 2019

Economics & Business; Business & management

Silicon Valley technology is transforming the way we work, and Uber is leading the charge. An American startup that promised to deliver entrepreneurship for the masses through its technology, Uber instead built a new template for employment using algorithms and Internet platforms. Upending our understanding of work in the digital age, Uberland paints a future where any of us might be managed by a faceless boss.

The neutral language of technology masks the powerful influence algorithms have across the New Economy. Uberland chronicles the stories of drivers in more than twenty-five cities in the United States and Canada over four years, shedding light on their working conditions and providing a window into how they feel behind the wheel. The book also explores Uber’s outsized influence around the world: the billion-dollar company is now influencing everything from debates about sexual harassment and transportation regulations to racial equality campaigns and labor rights initiatives.

Based on award-winning technology ethnographer Alex Rosenblat’s firsthand experience of riding over 5,000 miles with Uber drivers, daily visits to online forums, and face-to-face discussions with senior Uber employees, Uberland goes beyond the headlines to reveal the complicated politics of popular technologies that are manipulating both workers and consumers.

By: Alex Rosenblat
Imprint: California Uni Pr Trade
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 408g
ISBN: 9780520324800
ISBN 10: 0520324803
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 15 October 2019
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction: Using an App to Go to Work—Uber as a Symbol of the New Economy 1. Driving as Glamorous Labor: How Uber Uses the Myths of the Sharing Economy 2. Motivations to Drive: How Uber’s System Rewards Full-Time and Recreational Drivers Differently 3. The Technology Pitch: How Uber Creates Entrepreneurship for the Masses 4. The Shady Middleman: How Uber Manages Money 5. Behind the Curtain: How Uber Manages Drivers with Algorithms 6. In the Big Leagues: How Uber Plays Ball Conclusion: The New Age of Uber—How Technology Consumption Rewrote the Rules of Work Appendix 1. Methodology: How I Studied Uber Appendix 2. Ridehailing beyond Uber: Meet Lyft, the Younger Twin Notes Index

Alex Rosenblat is a technology ethnographer. A researcher at the Data & Society Research Institute, she holds an MA in sociology from Queen's University and a BA in history from McGill University. Rosenblat's writing has appeared in media outlets such as the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, the Atlantic, Slate, and Fast Company. Her research has received attention worldwide and has been covered in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, MIT Technology Review, WIRED, New Scientist, and the Guardian. Many scholarly and professional publications have also published her prizewinning work, including the International Journal of Communication and the Columbia Law Review.

Reviews for Uberland: How Algorithms Are Rewriting the Rules of Work

A fine work of technology ethnography. . . As someone who believes that technology is a positive force for driving change, I'll admit to being deeply disturbed by reading Uberland. * Inside Higher Education * Rosenblat's book is a combination of sociological analysis, excerpts from Uber-driver online forums, communications with Uber executives and employees, and an avalanche of in-person interviews with drivers from all over the United States and Canada. Her analysis isn't a polemic; it is balanced and measured. * Los Angeles Review of Books * If you care about the future of work, read Uberland by Alex Rosenblat. -- Theodore Kinni, Strategy + Business A timely look at the tensions between technology and the future of employment, and how ambitious startups might be changing the way we see and value work. * Mother Jones * This jargon-free and intriguing expose offers food for thought for anyone interested in worker protections or societal changes driven by technology. * Publishers Weekly * Functions as an examination of both how Uber's algorithms are changing the way companies operate and exert control over their workers and how those workers are experiencing these changes. * Slate * A timely, accessible analysis of a Silicon Valley innovator that disrupted an industry. * GeekWire *