We advance the concept of platformic management, and the ways in which platforms help to structure project-based or “gig” work. We do so knowing that the popular press and a substantial number of the scholarly publications characterize the “rise of the gig economy” as advancing worker autonomy and flexibility, focusing attention to online digital labor platforms such as Uber and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Scholars have conceptualized the procedures of control exercised by these platforms as exerting “algorithmic management,” reflecting the use of extensive data collection to feed algorithms that structure work. In this paper, we broaden the attention to algorithmic management and gig-working control in two ways. First, we characterize the managerial functions of Upwork, an online platform that facilitates knowledge-intensive freelance labor - to advance discourse beyond ride-sharing and room-renting labor. Second, we advance the concept of platformic management as a means to convey a broader and sociotechnical premise of these platforms’ functions in structuring work. We draw on data collected from Upwork forum discussions, interviews with gig workers who use Upwork, and a walkthrough analysis of the Upwork platform to develop our analysis. Our findings lead us to articulate platformic management -- extending beyond algorithms -- and to present the platform as a “boundary resource” to illustrate the paradoxical affordances of Upwork and similar labor platforms. That is, the platform (1) enables the autonomy desired by gig workers, while (2) also serving as a means of control that helps maintain the viability of transactions and protects the platform from disintermediation.

中文翻译：

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平台管理，现场工作的边界资源和工人自治

我们提出了平台管理的概念，以及平台帮助构建基于项目或“演出”工作的方式。我们知道这样做是因为大众媒体和大量学术出版物将“零工经济的崛起”描绘为不断提高的工人自主性和灵活性，并将注意力集中在诸如Uber和Amazon的Mechanical Turk等在线数字劳工平台上。学者们将这些平台所执行的控制程序概念化为“算法管理”，反映了使用大量数据收集来提供构成工作的算法。在本文中，我们通过两种方式扩大对算法管理和演出工作控制的关注。首先，我们描述Upwork的管理功能，一个在线平台，可促进知识密集型自由职业者的工作，从而使话语权超越共享乘车和租房劳动的范畴。其次，我们提出平台管理的概念，以此为平台传达这些平台在构建工作中的功能的更广泛的社会技术前提。我们利用从Upwork论坛讨论中收集的数据，对使用Upwork的演出人员的采访以及对Upwork平台的演练分析来开发我们的分析。我们的发现使我们阐明了平台管理-超越了算法-并将平台作为“边界资源”呈现，以说明Upwork和类似的劳动力平台的悖论承受能力。也就是说，平台（1）实现了演出工作人员所需的自治权，