In this talk, Philip Balsiger will discuss how digital platforms such as Uber, Deliveroo, Amazon, or Booking.com, reorganize work and markets, and what the social and political implications of this are. Using a number of empirical examples from my own studies as well as studies from other researchers, the talk will analyze the power of digital platforms by answering a few basic questions: What is a digital platform? What kinds of platforms are there? What do platforms do? How do platforms make money? Who do platforms benefit (besides themselves)? What is a platform economy, and can it be resisted?

Philip Balsiger is professor of economic sociology at the University of Neuchâtel. His work on the platform economy, which he led with Muriel Surdez (Unifr), analyzes how the Swiss hotel industry reacts to the rise of reservation platforms.