ABSTRACT

While there have been numerous – mostly qualitative – studies on the experience and the conditions of platform labour, the exploratory potential of biographical research has so far been overlooked. This article responds to this gap in research by presenting a case study of a French crowdworker, who was interviewed in the context of a larger European research project on precariousness and unpaid labour. On the basis of her autobiographical narrative, the authors reconstruct how her relationship with two online labour platforms evolved throughout the course of two years. The aim of this article is to illustrate the benefits of adopting a longitudinal, process-oriented perspective on the experience of online gig work in a biographical context. By giving informants the time and space to openly narrate and reflect about how their lives evolved, it also becomes possible for them to work through difficult past experiences and gain new perspectives. Furthermore, this research approach can be a tool to amplify ‘voices from below’ as a corrective against powerful corporate strategies. The authors aim to make the process of interpreting autobiographical narrative interviews transparent by highlighting the analytical relevance of selected formal textual features.

摘要

尽管对平台劳工的经验和条件已有大量研究（大部分是定性研究），但迄今为止，传记研究的探索潜力却被忽视了。本文通过介绍一名法国众包工人的案例研究来回应这一研究空白，该工人在一个关于不稳定和无酬劳动的更大的欧洲研究项目的背景下接受了采访。根据她的自传叙述，作者重构了她与两个在线劳工平台的关系在两年内如何演变。本文的目的是说明在传记背景下采用纵向、面向过程的视角来看待在线零工工作的经验的好处。通过为线人提供时间和空间来公开叙述和反思他们的生活如何演变，他们也有可能克服过去的困难经历并获得新的视角。此外，这种研究方法可以成为放大“来自底层的声音”的工具，以纠正强大的企业战略。作者的目的是通过强调选定的正式文本特征的分析相关性，使解释自传体叙事访谈的过程变得透明。