*Dear Colleagues:Call for PapersThe Gig Economy: Workers and Media in the Age of ConvergenceEditors: Brian Dolber (Cal State University, San Marcos), Chenjerai Kumanyika (Rutgers University) Michelle Rodino-colocino (Penn State University), Todd Wolfson (Rutgers University) In 2016 the US Department of Labor defined a “gig” as “a single project or task for which a worker is hired, often through a digital marketplace, to work on demand.” <https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2016/article/what-is-the-gig-economy.htm> Although it is hard to measure how large the gig workforce is (by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics own admission), it is clear that a new way of working, managing, and profiting is rising on the backs of gig workers. The “gig economy”-- the colloquial name given to the constellation of app-based services that rely on contingent, “on-demand” labor-- is situated at the nexus of transformations in communication technology, economics, and culture. Companies like Uber, Lyft, and Amazon Flex, for example, promise drivers the chance to “get your side hustle on,” “fund your dreams,” enjoy “flexible hours” and “be your own boss.” For millions of workers, however, these promises ring hollow. Low wages and a complete lack of protections have left many struggling and desperate, in some cases prompting tragic worker suicides. As a global phenomenon, the gig economy is being embraced and challenged in a variety of ways in different countries by workers, labor movements, governments, and consumers. Media and new digital technologies play a key role in enabling and justifying the political economic and cultural effects of the gig economy. This volume draws together research that examines the experience of and resistance to exploitative aspects of the gig economy with a range of expertise in the communication discipline (critical/cultural studies, policy studies, technology studies), employing multiple theoretical perspectives (political economy, critical race, feminist) and methodologies (ethnography, history, discourse analysis, community-based participatory research) in a variety of national contexts. We consider the roles that media, policy, culture, and history play as well as gender, immigrant status, ethnic background, racial identity, ability, and sexual orientation in forging working conditions in the “gig economy.”List of possible topics:The political economy of gig companiesWho benefits from gig labor?Experiences of gig workersExploitative aspects of gig laborDeconstructing myths surrounding the gig economyGig worker organizing campaignsCorporate PR, advertising, and policy campaignsThe gig economy and consumer activismTechnologies of the gig economy Surveillance technology and the gig economyGlobal perspectives on the gig economyImmigration and app-based laborRacialization and app-based laborGendering of gig workSexual harassment, sexual assault and gig economySolidarity and divides among gig workersThe gig economy and the culture industryMedia representations and news coverage of the gig economyThe gig economy and the environmentUrban space and the gig economyGig and green economies Gamification Historical perspectives on gig workPlease submit abstracts of 350-500 words to gigeconomyproject@gmail.com <{gigeconomyproject@gmail.com> by September 15, 2018. Authors will be notified by October 15. Complete essays, between 5000 and 8000 words, will be due by January 15, 2019. * Michelle Rodino-Colocino, Ph.D. "Enjoy the process" --my mother, Associate Professor "Mangia" --my grandmother" "Say it" --my daughter Film/Video, Media Studies, Bellisario College of Communications, Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies Interim President, American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Penn State University Park Chapter Penn State University 115 Carnegie, University Park, 16802 *Twitter: @roc <http://www.democraticcommunications.net/>ofem* *Skype@rocofem* michelle@psu.edu