With platforms accounting for 1–3% of paid work in advanced economies, discussions on their impact on labor are proliferating. Focusing on commercial platforms providing intermediation to a workforce available on-demand, we further systematize the field by approaching platform-mediated work through the lens of (in)visibility. We map four basic forms of platform-mediated work against three variations of (in)visibility: (1) perceptible, (2) institutional, and (3) individual, and discuss the implications through the stories of three protagonists of platform workers. The suggested meta-analysis tool for understanding the mechanism of rendering platform workers obscure exposes who is recognized as a worker, what is recognized as work, and how these questions are negotiated in a platform-mediated digital space. As such, the framework provides a joint space for the discussions of the core issues of the field—from regulation and uncertainties of platform employment, through exacerbating vulnerabilities of workers, to surveillance and self-governance.
Starting from the extended corporate citizenship (CC) perspective, this article focuses on the perceptions of residents in the district of Steinfurt, Germany, regarding the social and environmental activities of enterprises in their region. In a citizen survey, in the district, 1,003 households—selected by a Random-Route-Procedure—were interviewed using a partly standardized questionnaire. The results of the explorative and descriptive study show that approximately, only half of the interviewees associated social and environmental activities with enterprises in the region. The answers point towards a wide diversity of understandings. Furthermore, less than one-fifth feel well-informed about the theses activities. This hints towards a lack of information, which could be tackled by targeted communication. When asked about prioritization, most interviewees consider social activities for employees to be more relevant. In the environmental field, a majority favor local action being taken by enterprises locally, in order to prevent environmental damage in the surrounding area. These results suggest that the direct impact with regard to measures is crucial for citizens’ perceptions. In addition, residents highlight the issue of employment as a main role of enterprises in the region. This may offer an anchor point for enterprises to develop social activities that are highly relevant to the citizens.
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