Platform Economy: Social Challenges and Democratic Models

"In the new economy, the Internet is not merely an infrastructure and a communication channel but also a way of creating value. It allows for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) economic relationships, often replacing Business-to-Consumer (B2C) interactions, since peers (or users) can buy and sell through platforms. Platforms emerge as new social and economic agents whose business model is the orchestration, the ability to connect different groups of users, allowing unprecedented levels of fit between needs and solutions. While platforms become the necessary intermediaries, users are the necessary collaborators for these platforms, which rely on the so-called “network effect” and the ability to reach “critical mass”.
The revolution of the platforms is one of the most disruptive effects of the digitalization of the economy. This is particularly acute in some sectors of the economy such as transportation and hospitality, but also in the area of personal health data. Yet, although sometimes it is presented as a form of “collaborative consumption” or “sharing economy”, when these platforms are for-profit initiatives attracting large-scale investors, they are often seen as a new form of extractive capitalism, in markets with a “winner-takes-all” dynamic.
Given this scenario of social and economic innovation, the objectives of this project are:
1) To analyze the criticisms launched against the platform economy, particulary due to its social and ethical challenges
2) To study the alternatives proposed by conscientious users and empowered citizens, who have started to react to the winner-takes-all dynamic of the platform economy and have engaged in platform initiatives with a collective governance model, following the spirit of “do-it-yourself democracy”.
3) To study whether and how these “platform cooperatives” put into practice the ideal of deliberative democracy.
"

"In the new economy, the Internet is not merely an infrastructure and a communication channel but also a way of creating value. It allows for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) economic relationships, often replacing Business-to-Consumer (B2C) interactions, since peers (or users) can buy and sell through platforms. Platforms emerge as new social and economic agents whose business model is the orchestration, the ability to connect different groups of users, allowing unprecedented levels of fit between needs and solutions. While platforms become the necessary intermediaries, users are the necessary collaborators for these platforms, which rely on the so-called “network effect” and the ability to reach “critical mass”.
The revolution of the platforms is one of the most disruptive effects of the digitalization of the economy. This is particularly acute in some sectors of the economy such as transportation and hospitality, but also in the area of personal health data. Yet, although sometimes it is presented as a form of “collaborative consumption” or “sharing economy”, when these platforms are for-profit initiatives attracting large-scale investors, they are often seen as a new form of extractive capitalism, in markets with a “winner-takes-all” dynamic.
Given this scenario of social and economic innovation, the objectives of this project are:
1) To analyze the criticisms launched against the platform economy, particulary due to its social and ethical challenges
2) To study the alternatives proposed by conscientious users and empowered citizens, who have started to react to the winner-takes-all dynamic of the platform economy and have engaged in platform initiatives with a collective governance model, following the spirit of “do-it-yourself democracy”.
3) To study whether and how these “platform cooperatives” put into practice the ideal of deliberative democracy.
"