[EVENT] Dissent at Left Forum 2014

[EVENT] Dissent at Left Forum 2014

Dissent invites you to join us for two panels at this year’s Left Forum, which will be taking place this weekend (May 30–June 1) at John Jay College in New York City. Register for Left Forum here.

Cloud Labor: Working in the Digital Economy

Saturday, May 31, Session 3 (3:10–4:50 p.m.), Room 1.113

Social media companies seemingly offer free services that allow users to interact and express themselves, while their business models depend on generating revenues from the free work these users put into their platforms. Other new technology companies look to the Internet as a marketplace for a crowdsourced, amateur, contracted labor pool that is underpaid and unregulated. Both of these trends are part of a digital economy where the boundary between labor and play is blurred, where increased “flexibility” and room for creativity are the price for exploitation, and where women often perform the majority of the work. Under these conditions, how can “users” reimagine the content they produce as a source of value? Will this kind of work reinforce gender, racial, and class disparities? How can a dispersed workforce undertake collective action, and can online platforms themselves serve as tools for organizing digital labor?

Chair: Sarah Jaffe

Speakers: Melissa Gira Grant, Sydette Harry, and Moshe Marvit

Sample readings: Melissa Gira Grant, “For the Love of Kink” (Dissent, Spring 2014); Sydette Harry, “Attacking the Stream” (Dissent online, April 2014); Moshe Marvit, “How Crowdworkers Became Ghosts in the Digital Machine” (The Nation, February 4, 2014)

Official Left Forum panel page

Working in Fear: Deportation and Labor Exploitation in the Obama Age

Saturday, May 31, Session 4 (5:00–6:50 p.m.), Room 1.81

Having overseen close to two million deportations since 2008, the Obama administration is on track to “remove” more undocumented immigrants than any other administration in U.S. history. How does the constant threat of deportation affect immigrants who are struggling to make a living in the United States? This panel will bring together a journalist, an anthropologist, and two activists to examine how immigration enforcement policies shape migration patterns and working conditions, exposing immigrants to abuses including human trafficking and forced labor. What we can do to end the deportation regime and achieve justice for immigrant workers?

Chair: Michelle Chen

Speakers: Denise Brennan, Daniel Coates, and Abraham Paulos

Sample readings: Denise Brennan, “Migrants At Risk: How U.S. Policies Facilitate Human Trafficking” (Dissent online, March 2014); Michelle Chen, “Invisible Immigrants” (Dissent online, April 2013)

Official Left Forum panel page

After our panels, join Dissent editors, writers, and friends at the Dollars & Sense 40th Anniversary Party (Gossip Bar, 733 9th Avenue at 49th St., 8 p.m.) and, afterwards, at Rudy’s Bar and Grill (627 9th Avenue at 44th St., 10 p.m.).