Anthony Howell

Online shopping and the gig economy: a sociological study of alienation in Brighton and Reykjavik

My PhD research, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council’s South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (ESRC Ref: ES/P000673/1), included interviews conducted in different societal contexts: Brighton, England and Reykjavik, Iceland, with the data thematically analysed. I find that online shopping is directly alienating, with participants consistently expressing discontent and malaise with the practice – indicating disturbed relations of appropriation. Engaging in online shopping may also diminish empathy for others and compromise affection for the natural environment, indirectly alienating individuals from those relations.

I argue that the focus of society has shifted from relatively stable production-based, to relatively transitory consumption-based practice, with forms of identity adjusting accordingly. I theorise that within this environment, four alienating relational processes have become prominent: marketised cultural relations, atomised human relations, incongruous relations to digital ‘space’, and intractable relations to time. I posit that these contextual aspects overlap and interweave with one another, inducing alienating online shopping practice. Online shopping therefore encapsulates the four alienating contextual factors, whilst reinforcing that context. Consequently, late-capitalist consumer society comprises a mutually reinforcing alienating context and alienating practice.

My final thesis - Online shopping and the gig economy: a sociological study of alienation in Brighton and Reykjavik – is available to read online. If you would like to discuss the research, please contact me via LinkedIn.