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Name: Departmental Seminar --- Prof Jenny Huberman
Start: 2021-12-1T14:00+1:00
End: 2021-12-1T16:00+1:00

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Past and Future Events

December

01Dec2:00 pm4:00 pm

Cancelled

Departmental Seminar — Prof Jenny Huberman

Title: Moments are Still the Elements of Profit - The App Economy and the Digital Extraction of Surplus-Value

Date: Wednesday 1 December 2021
Time: 2.00pm to 4.00pm
Location: Online

Event Details

Prof Jenny Huberman
University of Missouri, Kansas City

Title: Moments are Still the Elements of Profit – The App Economy and the Digital Extraction of Surplus-Value

Abstract: Over the last two decades, while the ranks of the under and unemployed have swelled, and as the commercial demand for more precise data has skyrocketed, the smartphone task and gaming app industry has exploded. Likened to a portable Mechanical Turk, or a veritable “data enrichment” industry, apps such as Spare5, Taps for Money, InboxDollars, Cash Karma, Mistplay, Bingo Box, Solitude Cube, Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, Lifepoints, PrizeRebel, and TreasureTrooper, to name just a few, are advertised to e-commerce and AI companies as a way to get the most direct access to potential consumers, and as way to gain a “cost-effective” leg up in the “arms race in training data.” They are also presented to consumers or users as a means to “win” or “earn some money by performing simple tasks irrespective of the place where you are.” Companies propose that by downloading these apps onto smartphones users can render their “free time” economically productive. In this talk, I explore how the smartphone app industry is facilitating the digitized extraction of surplus-value. I argue that it is precisely by blurring the boundaries between work and leisure, and in many cases, “gamifying” tasks, that the app economy, which is inextricably tied to the platform economy, is able to perpetuate and extend a classic form of capitalist expropriation into the most intimate reaches of daily life. Drawing upon an analysis of some of the most popular smartphone “earning” apps, I will demonstrate that although much has changed in the era of digital capitalism, moments, as Marx recognized long ago, are still the elements of profit.

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Time

(Wednesday) 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

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Online

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Department of Social Anthropology

06Dec4:00 pm5:00 pm

School of Chemistry Colloquia: Dr Andryj Borys

Anionic Nickelates: Catalytic Cross-Coupling to Cluster Chemistry

Date: Monday 6 December 2021
Time: 4.00pm to 5.00pm
Location: Online

Event Details

Title: Anionic Nickelates: Catalytic Cross-Coupling to Cluster Chemistry

Abstract:
Organonickel chemistry has a long and rich history, with many accidental and serendipitous discoveries evolving into well-established industrial applications.1 In particular, the chemistry of low-valent Nickel spawned during investigations into the so-called “Nickel effect”,2 which represents the starting point for the development of Ziegler catalysts. Ni0-olefin complexes, such as Ni(COD)2, that were reported during this time have continued to find widespread use in synthetic organometallic chemistry and homogenous catalysis, whilst the anionic nickelate derivatives that were also investigated during these early studies have remained largely unexplored.
This presentation will provide spectroscopic and structural insights into the role and identity of these anionic nickelates in the nickel-catalysed cross-coupling of aryl ethers, providing direct experimental evidence for an alternative mechanism.3 Furthermore, related polynuclear alkali-metal nickelate clusters exhibiting unique structures and bonding will also be showcased.4

References
1 G. Wilke. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1988, 27, 185-206.
2. K. Fischer, K. Jonas, P. Misbach, R. Stabba, G. Wilke. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1973, 12, 943-1026.
3. A. M. Borys, E. Hevia. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 24659-24667.
4. R. J. Somerville, A. M. Borys, M. Perez-Jimenez, A. Nova, D. Balcells, L.A. Malaspina, S. Grabowsky, E. Carmona, E. Hevia, J. Campos. Submitted.

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Time

(Monday) 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Location

Online

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School of Chemistry

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MS Teams