Uberland

How Algorithms Are Rewriting the Rules of Work

Alex Rosenblat

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Hardback

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English

University of California Press
23 October 2018

Social classes; Urban communities; Ethical & social aspects of computing

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: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 544g
ISBN: 9780520298576
ISBN 10: 0520298578
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 23 October 2018
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
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. She works as a researcher and interdisciplinary scholar at the Data & Society Research Institute in New York City. Her most recent and prize-winning work is available in the International Journal of Communications, the Columbia Law Review, the Policy & Internet Journal, and Surveillance & Society. Her research is also featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, MIT Technology Review, Vice, Quartz, WIRED, Time, Technology Review-Heise, New Scientist, the Guardian, and CTV. She is an occasional contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Motherboard, Slate, the Atlantic, and Pacific Standard.