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Accepted Paper:
Remote work and im/mobilities: utopias and dystopias of the 4th industrial revolution
Fabiola Mancinelli
(Universitat de Barcelona)
This paper argues that the connection between remote work and new forms of im/mobilities embodies both the utopia and dystopia of the worker in the 4th industrial revolution, exploring the new responsibilities and social consequences underpinning life in the mobile virtual workplace.
Paper long abstract:
The Covid-19 pandemic has fast-tracked a global-scale adoption of remote work practices, relocating work from offices to homes and other settings. Entrepreneurial literature has hailed such unprecedented global trial as "Remotopia", celebrating its increased productivity and cost-saving benefits for employers (Cognizant, 2022). Undoubtedly, the advancement in digitisation can afford more location-independence and flexible work-life arrangements. In the last decade, digital nomads have made the intersection between remote work and leisure travel the core tenets of their lifestyle manifesto. This paper argues that the connection between remote work and an untethered lifestyle embodies both the utopia and dystopia of the worker in the 4th industrial revolution, exploring the new responsibilities and social consequences underpinning life in the virtual workplace. The research draws on online ethnographic interviews and analysis of secondary sources aiming to chart how new forms of im/mobilities feed and contrast with visions of imagined utopias.