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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Nomadic work
T2 - romance and reality : a response to Barbara Czarniawska’s ‘Nomadic work as life-story plot’
AU - Buscher, Monika
N1 - The original publication is available at www.link.springer.com
PY - 2014/4/1
Y1 - 2014/4/1
N2 - This article takes departure in Barbara Czarniawska’s discussion of ‘Nomadic Work as Life-Story Plot’. It contextualises her analysis of actors’ interpretations of nomadic work with a bi- focal review of the ambiguous realities of these phenomena. Firstly, an examination of key aspects of the socio-economic and political context of nomadic work in global neoliberal economies reveals precarious conditions that cloud romantic interpretations of nomadicity. Secondly, a review of studies of everyday practices of nomadic work shows how neoliberal, but also alternative futures are enacted through creative appropriation of collaborative technologies. One example is the work of digital ‘disaster deck’ volunteers and its potential for the mobilization of ‘rapid, highly localized assistance’ through closer collaboration between a distributed crowd, local communities, and official emergency responders (Starbird and Palen 2013). This and other examples suggest emergent new practices and politics of dwelling in mobility that are focused on sociality and collaboration, straddling virtual and physical commons. The twin critique developed in this response can augment narrative analysis to inform more integrated CSCW innovation that challenges the ‘brave new world of work’.
AB - This article takes departure in Barbara Czarniawska’s discussion of ‘Nomadic Work as Life-Story Plot’. It contextualises her analysis of actors’ interpretations of nomadic work with a bi- focal review of the ambiguous realities of these phenomena. Firstly, an examination of key aspects of the socio-economic and political context of nomadic work in global neoliberal economies reveals precarious conditions that cloud romantic interpretations of nomadicity. Secondly, a review of studies of everyday practices of nomadic work shows how neoliberal, but also alternative futures are enacted through creative appropriation of collaborative technologies. One example is the work of digital ‘disaster deck’ volunteers and its potential for the mobilization of ‘rapid, highly localized assistance’ through closer collaboration between a distributed crowd, local communities, and official emergency responders (Starbird and Palen 2013). This and other examples suggest emergent new practices and politics of dwelling in mobility that are focused on sociality and collaboration, straddling virtual and physical commons. The twin critique developed in this response can augment narrative analysis to inform more integrated CSCW innovation that challenges the ‘brave new world of work’.
KW - CSCW
KW - design
KW - neoliberalism
KW - nomadic work
KW - commons
U2 - 10.1007/s10606-013-9194-6
DO - 10.1007/s10606-013-9194-6
M3 - Journal article
VL - 23
SP - 223
EP - 238
JO - Computer Supported Cooperative Work
JF - Computer Supported Cooperative Work
SN - 0925-9724
IS - 2
ER -