Analysing the labour process and the global political economy of work

In the second decade of the 20th century, media attention and academic publishing in the Global North has rediscovered work as a focal point of interest. This increased awareness is fuelled by two trends. First, technology seems to have reached a stage where the ever increasing affordability of access to both 'big data' and the computing potential to work with these resources leads to a significant change in the capitalist mode of production, captured as platform capitalism (Narayan 2022). Secondly, workers' struggles seem to have reappeared. Workers are challenging transnational companies at the local level in the realm of the gig economy, highlighting changes in a predominantly urban labour market that impacts on precarious and vulnerable workers, as well as younger parts of the working population (Briziarelli and Armano 2020). Times of technological change always are significant for labour process analysis. The introduction of technology developed under capitalism is never neutral but
comes with changes in dominant forms of control and modes of exploitation, furthering division of labour and alienation. Labour process analysis has deemed it useful to understand these changes, both the implications for working conditions and workers' agency.