Nathan Schneider writes, “The seeds are being planted for a new kind of
online economy. For all the wonders the Internet brings us, it is
dominated by an economics of monopoly, extraction, and surveillance.”
Ordinary users retain little control over their personal data, and the
digital workplace is creeping into every corner of workers’ lives.
Online platforms often exploit and exacerbate existing inequalities in
society, even while promising to be the great equalizers. Could the
Internet be owned and governed differently? What if Uber drivers could
set up their own platform, or if cities could control their own version
of Airbnb? Can Silicon Alley do things more democratically than Silicon
Valley? What are the prospects for platform cooperativism?
tinfoilparachute 