Platform Economy and China’s Digital Working Class
Junyan Jiang
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Award: $30,000
Junyan’s project explores how the proliferation of large online platforms has reshaped class politics, labor relations, and perceptions of justice. Focusing on China’s platform economy, the research examines how gig workers navigate algorithmic control, develop solidarity, and fight for lawful rights. Through interviews with workers, platform managers, and government regulators, along with dataset collection and a pilot survey on political and economic attitudes, the project offers new insights into the nature of class politics in a digital political economy.
Collaborators
- Yao Lu, professor of sociology Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences;
- Qin Gao, professor, Columbia School of Social Work;
- Genia Kostka: professor of Chinese Politics, Freie Universität Berlin;
- Tianguang Meng, professor of Political Science, Tsinghua University;
- Lizhi Liu, assistant professor of Business, Georgetown University;
- Xiang Gao, professor of Public Administration, Zhejiang University;
- Hao Wen, graduate student, Columbia School of Social Work;
- Yaya Wang, graduate student, Columbia Weatherhead East Asian Institute
