"This fourth Fairwork report for South Africa continues to chart the evolution of the national platform economy. In South Africa, digital labour platforms hold the potential to reduce the extremely high levels of unemployment and inequality. However, the annual South African Fairwork ratings also p
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rovide evidence that platform workers, as in so many countries worldwide, continue to face unfair work conditions and lack the benefits and protections afforded to employees." (Executive Summary)
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"En 2022 se ha observado una ralentización del nivel de la actividad económica (7,2%) en comparación al segundo semestre de 2021 y se pronostica que todavía caerá en 2023 (4,4%), a niveles insuficientes para la recuperación a los niveles pre-crisis. Una combinación de factores dan cuenta de e
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sos resultados, los cuales tienen que ver con el deterioro de la infraestructura y de los servicios básicos (energía, agua, seguridad, telecomunicaciones), el escaso acceso al crédito bancario, la falta de capital humano, el bajo nivel de ingreso real de los consumidores, el bajo crecimiento de la producción petrolera, así como los efectos de algunas sanciones. Si bien se superó la situación de hiperinflación que se produjo desde 2017, Venezuela todavía figura como la economía más inflacionaria del mundo, estimándose que puede cerrar este año 2022 en 125%." (Slide 6)
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"The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the rise of digitally enabled remote work with consequences for the global division of labour. Remote work could connect labour markets, but it might also increase spatial polarisation. However, our understanding of the geographies of remote work is limited. Specifi
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cally, in how far could remote work connect employers and workers in different countries? Does it bring jobs to rural areas because of lower living costs, or does it concentrate in large cities? And how do skill requirements affect competition for employment and wages? We use data from a fully remote labour market—an online labour platform—to show that remote platform work is polarised along three dimensions. First, countries are globally divided: North American, European, and South Asian remote platform workers attract most jobs, while many Global South countries participate only marginally. Secondly, remote jobs are pulled to large cities; rural areas fall behind. Thirdly, remote work is polarised along the skill axis: workers with in-demand skills attract profitable jobs, while others face intense competition and obtain low wages. The findings suggest that agglomerative forces linked to the unequal spatial distribution of skills, human capital, and opportunities shape the global geography of remote work. These forces pull remote work to places with institutions that foster specialisation and complex economic activities, i. e. metropolitan areas focused on information and communication technologies. Locations without access to these enabling institutions—in many cases, rural areas—fall behind. To make remote work an effective tool for economic and rural development, it would need to be complemented by local skill-building, infrastructure investment, and labour market programmes." (Abstract)
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"A decade into the Syrian war, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita worldwide, limiting their work to three sectors of the economy. Most of the employed refugees have therefore been active in the informal market under indecent and insecure working conditions.
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One solution currently being promoted by humanitarian and development organisations and the private sector is that digital work in web-based labour markets can provide an alternative that circumvents these local restrictions, offering refugees a way to make a livelihood online. This field report contests this assumption, based on analysis of the impact and experience of a digital skills training programme that reached some 3000 beneficiaries by 2021. The report critically examines how a context of regulatory restriction and economic crisis in Lebanon undermines the feasibility of digital refugee livelihoods, thereby offering a critique of the idea that web-based income opportunities transcend local markets, policies and regulations. Due to discriminatory policies, ICT-related exclusion, and financial exclusion, the programme’s objective shifted from online work to local work. Ironically, most of those graduates who found work did so in the local informal labour market once more, having failed to secure any form of sustainable online income opportunity." (Abstract)
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"This op-ed outlines key issues humanitarians should consider when assessing their ‘digital responsibility’ to foster digital refugee livelihoods. This includes in particular the need to develop robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks of outcomes of digital livelihoods trainings for refugees
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– and spaces for critical engagement with the results of such evaluations, including stopping digital livelihoods programming when risks outweigh benefits. It argues that ethical humanitarian engagement in technology must include the development of coherent, contextualised sets of norms and frameworks for responsibility and protection in the digital sphere, including those that address humanitarian efforts to assist refugees to enter the digital economy." (Abstract)
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"This collection of essays offers a critical assessment of Labour in a Single Shot, a groundbreaking documentary video workshop. From 2011 to 2014, curator Antje Ehmann and film- and videomaker Harun Farocki produced an art project of truly global proportions. They travelled to fifteen cities around
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the world to conduct workshops inspired by cinema history’s first film, Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory, shot in 1895 by the Lumière brothers in France. While the workshop videos are in colour and the camera was not required to remain static, Ehmann and Farocki’s students were tasked with honouring the original Lumière film’s basic parameters of theme and style. The fascinating result is a collection of more than 550 short videos that have appeared in international exhibitions and on an open-access website, offering the widest possible audience the opportunity to ponder contemporary labour in multiple contexts around the world." (Publisher description)
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"Key objectives of the research study were to understand young Ethiopians’ employment opportunities, aspirations, interactions with their elders and how they feel they are perceived by older generations. Conducted in May 2021, this research study involved participants from four Ethiopian states an
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d the city administration of Addis Ababa. It comprised a quantitative survey with a sample of 2,000 15–29-year-olds, and a qualitative element including 25 focus group discussions with young people, and 5 focus group discussions with parents across urban and semi-urban parts of Bahir Dar, Jijiga and Addis Ababa. 12 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders who work with the federal and regional government and
non-governmental organisations working with young people were also conducted [...] This study suggests that building strong intergenerational ties can be key to empowering young people, increasing their community participation and helping them to achieve their job aspirations." (About this paper)
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"This handbook is broadly divided into three sections: this first focuses on understanding business and human rights, its themes and topics. The second part looks at the practicalities of reporting business and human rights stories: from finding ideas and spotting stories through to the process of r
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esearch and carrying out interviews. The third part looks at how you can tell business and human rights stories, and ‘sell’ them to your audience and editors. Whilst some media law is discussed, it is as general introductory information only and should not be construed as or relied upon as legal advice." (Page 8)
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"In Game Production Studies, an international group of established and emerging researchers takes a closer look at the everyday realities of video game production, ranging from commercial industries to independent creators and cultural intermediaries. Across sixteen chapters, the authors deal with i
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ssues related to labour, game development, monetization and publishing, as well as local specificities. As the first edited collection dedicated solely to video game production, this volume provides a timely resource for anyone interested in how games are made and at what costs." (Publisher description)
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"Based on this research, it was found that media and communication interventions could seek to leverage young Ethiopians’ optimism and enthusiasm, providing informative and inspiring content to fuel their ideas. This insight informed the creation of a social and behaviour change (SBCC) strategy to
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engage young people in the workforce, developed in partnership with the Ethiopia Jobs Creation Commission (JCC). The strategy identifies two key priority segments that need significant support - the ‘progressive but held back’ and the ‘unengaged and unambitious.’ Priority audiences across these two segments are younger 15- 18 year olds, men and women who are less educated more likely to marry before the age of 21. Creating an enabling environment to help these groups, while keeping in mind the needs of the others, is central to this strategy. Pilot media content will now be produced to support JCC as they deliver the overall communication strategy. This content will address the needs of priority groups by giving information about job opportunities, using role models and real life stories to inspire and address traditional gender norms." (Page 3)
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"Grundlage für die im Buch enthaltenen Aufsätze ist eine Fachtagung, die im Juli 2019 vom Caritasverband für die Diözese Osnabrück e. V. und dem Ludwig-Windhorst-Haus, der Katholischen Sozialen Akademie des Bistums Osnabrück, initiiert wurde. Dabei sollte das Zentrum der Tagung (und damit des
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Buches) die Frage sein, wie Christen mit den digitalen Perspektiven umgehen und sich hierzu beraten lassen. Vier Bereiche werden dafür beleuchtet: Das neue Menschenbild, das durch die Digitalisierung entsteht, die Veränderungen in der Arbeitswelt, die Gefährdungen der Demokratie und die Frage nach der erleichterten Pflege. All dies wird in dreizehn Aufsätzen näher untersucht, wobei die Autorinnen und Autoren unterschiedliche Vitae aufweisen: Vom Bundesvorsitzenden der Katholischen Arbeiterbewegung Andreas Luttmer-Bensmann über den CEO von BurdaForward Oliver Eckert bis hin zu Prof. Dr. Magnus Striet, Professor für Fundamentaltheologie in Freiburg. Diese Multiperspektivität bietet den Vorteil, dass sehr breite und teils auch unbekannte Haltungen präsentiert werden. So ist beispielsweise der Text der Philosophin Dr. Janina Loh, der einen Überblick zu Transhumanismus, technologischem Transhumanismus und kritischem Posthumanismus gibt, höchst lesenswert, da er insbesondere für theologisch Interessierte neue anthropologische Perspektiven eröffnet. Hierin liegt aber zugleich auch ein markantes Defizit des Bandes. Die Vielfalt ist Segen und Fluch zugleich. Zwar wird eine Fülle an Themenfeldern eröffnet, die zum Weiterdenken anregen (können), sinniger wäre es aber gewesen, wenn sie direkt im Buch anhand von verschiedenen Zugängen näher beleuchtet worden wären: Ist die Digitalisierung für die Demokratie eine Chance oder eine Gefahr? Die Entwicklung der letzten Jahre zeigt deutlich, dass dies ein aktuelles und sehr bedeutendes Thema ist. Gerade in diesem Bereich zeigt sich jedoch, dass das Buch nur Anstöße liefern kann." (Rezension von Daniel Lomp in eulenfisch.de)
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"Die Ökonomen Achim Wambach und Hans Christian Müller zeigen die wesentlichen Problemfelder auf, die durch die Digitalisierung entstehen: die wachsende Macht weniger Großkonzerne, ein für Nutzerinnen und Nutzer undurchsichtiger Umgang mit ihren persönlichen Daten und eine zunehmende Spaltung au
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f dem Arbeitsmarkt. Trotz dieser Probleme sehen sie im digitalen Wandel ein enormes Potenzial. Um es zu entfalten, bedürfe es der Gestaltung durch gezielte politische Maßnahmen. Wambach und Müller unterbreiten wettbewerbs- und ordnungspolitische sowie bildungs- und sozialpolitische Reformvorschläge, um das Versprechen der Sozialen Marktwirtschaft auf Wohlstand für alle zu erneuern." (Buchrücken)
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"The potential for young people to strengthen and grow the continent’s economies is only possible if they are adequately supported and provided with the tools they need to create a sustainable livelihood. Economic opportunities are a significant concern for young people globally, with youth three
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times as likely to be unemployed as their adult counterparts. Young people interviewed in urban and rural contexts across the three African countries [= Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania] experience poverty in a way that leaves them economically and socially deprived. Young people in all of the countries are acutely aware of the barriers to upward social mobility in their lives and those of their families. Lack of finances to support further education and training, or to set up their businesses, and lack of opportunities for meaningful employment are most often cited as holding them back. For young women, gender norms formed an additional barrier. Increasing the numbers of young people in employment will depend on providing them with the right kinds of skills for the jobs available and stimulating inclusive economic and employment growth. Despite the various challenges facing young people, they are at the forefront of Internet adoption. The way in which youths use mobile phones and the Internet is crucial for ensuring that ICTs contribute to their social and economic development." (Executive summary)
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"The 45 country reports gathered here illustrate the link between the internet and economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs). Some of the topics will be familiar to information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) activists: the right to health, education and culture; the socioec
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onomic empowerment of women using the internet; the inclusion of rural and indigenous communities in the information society; and the use of ICT to combat the marginalisation of local languages. Others deal with relatively new areas of exploration, such as using 3D printing technology to preserve cultural heritage, creating participatory community networks to capture an “inventory of things” that enables socioeconomic rights, crowdfunding rights, or the negative impact of algorithms on calculating social benefits. Workers’ rights receive some attention, as does the use of the internet during natural disasters. Ten thematic reports frame the country reports. These deal both with overarching concerns when it comes to ESCRs and the internet – such as institutional frameworks and policy considerations – as well as more specific issues that impact on our rights: the legal justification for online education resources, the plight of migrant domestic workers, the use of digital databases to protect traditional knowledge from biopiracy, digital archiving, and the impact of multilateral trade deals on the international human rights framework. The reports highlight the institutional and country-level possibilities and challenges that civil society faces in using the internet to enable ESCRs. They also suggest that in a number of instances, individuals, groups and communities are using the internet to enact their socioeconomic and cultural rights in the face of disinterest, inaction or censure by the state." (Back cover)
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"This study examined the relationship between exposure to Bollywood movies and job-seeking behavior of South Asian females. Using survey data collected from 132 female participants, we explored the effects of exposure to Bollywood movies on job search self-efficacy, enjoyment and job-seeking behavio
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r of South Asian females living in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Pakistan. We also applied a structural equation model to examine the role of enjoyment and job search self-efficacy in mediating the relationship between frequency of exposure to Bollywood movies and job-seeking behavior. Results indicated that exposure to Bollywood movies was positively related to enjoyment and job-seeking behavior of the female viewers of Bollywood movies. We also found a significant relationship between job search self-efficacy and job-seeking behavior. Our study offers a significant insight into the role of entertainment narratives in influencing the behavior of South Asian female audiences that hitherto remained a neglected group in media effects research." (Abstract)
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"Esta Guía de estilo para periodistas sobre empleo sigue la línea de los trabajos previos de EAPN España y EAPN Madrid de dotar a los periodistas de herramientas útiles para el desempeño de su labor profesional. A lo largo del presente texto se irán abordando diferentes conceptos como el de tr
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abajo decente, salarios dignos o trabajadores pobres, entre otros. De igual manera se han querido explicar las cifras más relevantes en la medición del empleo, y hacerlas más accesibles a todos los profesionales." (Presentación)
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