The digital gamification of labour: a new form of labour process regulation

Abstract

Digital gamification (DG) is generally defined as the application of game elements or even whole game mechanics to non-gaming contexts via software. In a labour process context its promoters advocate DG as a win-win-technology that supposedly increases productivity and quality of work simultaneously. Critiques, on the other hand, denounce it as part of libertarian ideology or as an empty, deceitful promise. For the sociology of work these normative discrepancies raise theoretical and empirical questions. This paper attempts to confront the sociological challenge of understanding how DG is transforming work by arguing that in order to precisely analyse labour process regulation by DG it is necessary to consider the pseudo-social characteristics of computers and their impact on labour process organisation. It presents four perspectives that aim at answering the key question: how does DG fit into the post-Fordist labour regulation regime?