The Rise of Online Platforms and the Triumph of the Corporation Sociologica

Authors

Koen Frenken Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4731-0201 Koen Frenken is a Full Professor in Innovation Studies at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University (The Netherlands). His research focuses on radical innovation and innovation policy. He is the author of “Putting Sharing Economy into Perspective” (with Juliet Schor) in Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, and a regular advisor to governments on policy issues related to online platforms and to societal challenges.
Lea Fuenfschilling CIRCLE, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6723-6374 Lea Fuenfschilling is an Associate Senior Lecturer at CIRCLE, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University (Sweden). She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Basel in Switzerland. She is the coordinator of the Swedish Transformative Innovation Policy Platform (STIPP) and on the board of the Sustainability Transition Research Network (STRN).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11715

Keywords:

platform, corporation, governance, gig economy, sharing economy, social media

Abstract

Rather than viewing online platforms as digital marketplaces, we analyze platforms as corporations and platform participants as a workforce. Online platforms perform very similar functions as any other corporation, but in different ways (applying terms and conditions as a legal framework and data, reviews, and algorithms for decentralized control) and mostly in different contexts (informal labor markets, sharing communities, social media) than traditional corporations did hitherto. The corporation perspective helps us to understand the transformative power of platforms, while at the same time shedding light on the historical continuation of the corporation as a basic institution in society. We argue that platforms’ transformative capacity lies in their continuous development of new institutions that they impose on their workforce and their clientele, codified in terms and conditions. It is the re-coding capacity that provides platforms the ability to continuously adapt the course of institutionalization in largely autonomous manners.

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2021-01-29

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Frenken, K., & Fuenfschilling, L. . (2020). The Rise of Online Platforms and the Triumph of the Corporation. Sociologica, 14(3), 101–113. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11715 More Citation Formats - ACM

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Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2020): Power and Control in Platform Monopoly Capitalism

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Koen Frenken Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4731-0201 Koen Frenken is a Full Professor in Innovation Studies at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University (The Netherlands). His research focuses on radical innovation and innovation policy. He is the author of “Putting Sharing Economy into Perspective” (with Juliet Schor) in Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, and a regular advisor to governments on policy issues related to online platforms and to societal challenges.
Lea Fuenfschilling CIRCLE, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6723-6374 Lea Fuenfschilling is an Associate Senior Lecturer at CIRCLE, Department of Design Sciences, Lund University (Sweden). She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Basel in Switzerland. She is the coordinator of the Swedish Transformative Innovation Policy Platform (STIPP) and on the board of the Sustainability Transition Research Network (STRN).

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11715 platform, corporation, governance, gig economy, sharing economy, social media Rather than viewing online platforms as digital marketplaces, we analyze platforms as corporations and platform participants as a workforce. Online platforms perform very similar functions as any other corporation, but in different ways (applying terms and conditions as a legal framework and data, reviews, and algorithms for decentralized control) and mostly in different contexts (informal labor markets, sharing communities, social media) than traditional corporations did hitherto. The corporation perspective helps us to understand the transformative power of platforms, while at the same time shedding light on the historical continuation of the corporation as a basic institution in society. We argue that platforms’ transformative capacity lies in their continuous development of new institutions that they impose on their workforce and their clientele, codified in terms and conditions. It is the re-coding capacity that provides platforms the ability to continuously adapt the course of institutionalization in largely autonomous manners.