The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South Africa
Digital platform technologies have brought about a new labour form in the occupation of domestic work, in which domestic cleaning work is now being managed and organised virtually through an online platform, or ‘app’, operated by private technology companies and provided to householders on a conven...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Johannesburg
2023-08-01
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| Series: | The Thinker |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2678 |
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| _version_ | 1832583645953523712 |
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| author | Tengetile Nhleko |
| author_facet | Tengetile Nhleko |
| author_sort | Tengetile Nhleko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Digital platform technologies have brought about a new labour form in the occupation of domestic work, in which domestic cleaning
work is now being managed and organised virtually through an online platform, or ‘app’, operated by private technology companies and provided to householders on a convenient and on-demand basis. This paper analyses the emerging impact of this new form of ‘platform domestic work’ in South Africa’s domestic sector using an interpretivist case study done in Cape Town on ten platform domestic workers and their platform companies. Using evidence obtained through in-depth interviews and analysis of published
company discourse material, this paper argues that far from formalising and modernising domestic work through the twin forces of commercialisation and digital platform technology, the phenomenon of platform domestic work is deepening informalisation in paid domestic work as a form of insecure ‘gig work’, and also through the widespread practice of platform leakage by domestic workers on the platform.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4465d3d0af4443948d57d690867eff85 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2075-2458 2616-907X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | University of Johannesburg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Thinker |
| spelling | doaj-art-4465d3d0af4443948d57d690867eff852025-01-28T09:01:50ZengUniversity of JohannesburgThe Thinker2075-24582616-907X2023-08-0196310.36615/the_thinker.v96i3.2678The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South AfricaTengetile Nhleko Digital platform technologies have brought about a new labour form in the occupation of domestic work, in which domestic cleaning work is now being managed and organised virtually through an online platform, or ‘app’, operated by private technology companies and provided to householders on a convenient and on-demand basis. This paper analyses the emerging impact of this new form of ‘platform domestic work’ in South Africa’s domestic sector using an interpretivist case study done in Cape Town on ten platform domestic workers and their platform companies. Using evidence obtained through in-depth interviews and analysis of published company discourse material, this paper argues that far from formalising and modernising domestic work through the twin forces of commercialisation and digital platform technology, the phenomenon of platform domestic work is deepening informalisation in paid domestic work as a form of insecure ‘gig work’, and also through the widespread practice of platform leakage by domestic workers on the platform. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2678 |
| spellingShingle | Tengetile Nhleko The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South Africa The Thinker |
| title | The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South Africa |
| title_full | The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South Africa |
| title_short | The ‘Platformisation’ of Domestic Work in South Africa |
| title_sort | platformisation of domestic work in south africa |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2678 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tengetilenhleko theplatformisationofdomesticworkinsouthafrica AT tengetilenhleko platformisationofdomesticworkinsouthafrica |