Consumer Behaviour and Alienation in the Gig Economy

这项博士研究将调查演出经济中的消费者行为与异化的社会病理学之间的关系。许多关于异化的研究都强调异化对工人的影响。然而，零工经济工人的人数相对较少。在推动零工经济和培养其疏远的社会关系方面，消费者人数更多，作用更大。异化因其本质主义基础而受到批评，其使用也有所减少。Rahel Jaeggi（2014）试图去本质化并恢复这一概念，她将其理解为对“挪用”的损害或阻碍。然而，贾基的概念化产生于她特定的本体论，她的例子涉及到社会的一个狭窄的部分。因此，贾基的表述并没有提供一个具体的实证方法来进行探索。一个涵盖零工经济中消费者行为的异化研究将：适用范围更广，提供更全面的解释，能够诊断和制定改善异化关系的策略，更好地使个人能够“适当”。主要数据将通过在英国和冰岛进行访谈和焦点小组来收集。英国与冰岛的比较，我假设相对较少异化，将阐明在不同的社会背景下，零工经济环境中的消费者行为和异化是如何经历的。每次访谈和焦点小组讨论后都会进行话语分析。这项研究将补充现有的研究，重点放在工人，并将提供一个更全面的了解复杂的疏远关系。

This doctoral research will investigate the relationship between consumer behaviour within the gigeconomy and the social pathology of alienation. Many studies of alienation emphasise the effects onworkers. However, gig-economy workers consist of a relatively small number of people. More numerousand more significant in driving the gig economy and fostering its alienating social relations areconsumers. Alienation has been critiqued due to the concept's essentialist foundations, and its use haddeclined. Rahel Jaeggi (2014) is attempting to de-essentialise and revive the concept, which sheunderstands as the impairment of, or impediment to, "appropriation". However, Jaeggi'sconceptualisation arises from her specific ontology, and her examples relate to a narrow section ofsociety. Consequently, Jaeggi's formulation does not provide a concrete empirical method for exploration.A study of alienation that encompasses consumer behaviour within the gig economy would: be morewidely applicable, provide a fuller explanation, enable a diagnosis and development of strategies toameliorate alienating relations, better enabling individuals to "appropriate". Primary data will becollected by conducting interviews and focus groups in the UK and Iceland. A comparison of the UK withIceland, which I hypothesise is relatively less alienated, will illuminate how consumer behaviour andalienation within the gig economy environment is experienced in different societal contexts. Discourseanalysis will follow each interview and focus group. This research will complement existing studies thatfocus on workers, and will provide a fuller understanding of complex alienating relations.