Search

This article focuses on the role of digital media in the shift toward a “post-secular society.” Whereas classical sociologists presented technology and religion as incompatible by depicting technology’s spread as a powerful force of rationalization, disenchantment, and, ultimately, secularization, such assumptions have been contested as modernist ideologies rather than empirical assessments. By reviewing the literature thereon, the authors suggest, firstly, that traditional religions spread through digital media; secondly, that religious contents play a large role in digital media; and, thirdly, that there is an emergence of religions of digital media, placing digital technology itself at the center of religious speculation. As a consequence, the authors argue that this digitalization of religion makes clear that sociological assumptions about the incompatibility between technology and religion and related theories about progressive secularization and disenchantment have become problematic.

This chapter examines the interconnections between technology, labor, and the gig economy. It starts by analyzing the changing context of work, connecting contemporary changes to a historical context. This draws out the ongoing undermining of the employment relationship alongside neoliberal reforms and policies. The chapter then examines the organizational form of platforms, the specific preconditions that shape their implementation, and the overlaps this has with the gig economy. In particular, it focuses on the emergence of two new models of platform work: geographically tethered work like transport and online forms of cloudwork. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the implications of platforms for understanding the changes to work, as well as charting potential new areas for research.