Politics and the Future of Work in Middle-Income Countries (PolDigWork)

How Hopes and Fears about Digitalization Shape Opinions on Social and Labour Policies

PolDigWork Team

Project description

In an era of rapid technological advancement, the digitalization of work has emerged as a pivotal force shaping economies and societies worldwide. New forms of digitalization and automation reshape how society 'works'. Innovations such as bots and robots change the nature of work and create new types of employment (e.g. gig work) and economic sectors. They also destroy existing jobs, automatizing tasks and making whole branches of the economy redundant. Social and political scientists begin to understand the processes and outcomes of this transformation in advanced industrialized countries. Especially for middle-income countries, however, we still know relatively little about the political consequences of the future of work. This research project delves into the exciting realm of digitalization and its profound impact on the future of work in Middle-Income Countries. Covering three different continents, the project will explore the impact of digitalization on the future of work, with a specific focus on a nested case study of Indonesia, South Africa and Mexico. We ask how key stakeholders and ordinary citizens see technological change. Are they afraid of negative consequences such as automation, or do they see technologies like AI rather as opportunities for work?

Research area: Development and Socio-Economic Policies  

News

Administrative boundaries of Myanmar on basis of GIS data from U.S. Navy
Research Area: Development and Socio-Economic Policies Learn more here
Dr. Gift Mwonzora and Viddy Ranawijaya
Welcome, Dr. Gift Mwonzora and Viddy Ranawijaya! Read more here
PolDigWork Workshop
Workshop on the Future of Work in Mexico (Research Project PolDigWork) Learn more here
The First Publication of the PolDigWork Project Investigates Attitudes Toward New Technologies in Ghana Read more
New research project on the political consequences of digitalization on the labor market of emerging economies Learn more here
Digitalization and the Welfare State
New edited volume: "Digitalization and the Welfare State" Read more here

People

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Output

Publications

Awuni, E.T., & Kemmerling, A. (2023). Taking Gerschenkron to the Field: Attitudes toward Digitalization Hopes and Fears about the Future of Work in Ghana. Telecommunications Policy, 102680.

Iversen, T. & Rehm, P. (2022). Commissioned Book Review: Big Data and the Welfare State: How the Information Revolution Threatens Social Solidarity, Political Studies Review

Busemeyer, M., Marx, P., Kemmerling, A. &  van Kersbergen K. (eds.) (2022). Digitalization and the Welfare State. Oxford University Press.

Kemmerling, A.,  Gast Zepeda, S. & Volkmann, S. (2020). On labour market impact of COVID-19.

Häusermann, S.,  Rueda, D. &  Kemmerling, A. (2019): Special Issue on New Labour Market Divides in Political Science Research Methods 8(2)
Introduction: How Labor Market Inequality Transforms Mass Politics (with Silja Häusermann and David Rueda), pp. 344-355.