Die vorliegende Studie untersucht, inwiefern plattformvermittelte Dienstleistungsarbeit in den Bereichen der Personenbeförderung und Essenszustellung in Deutschland und Brasilien prekäre Desintegrationspotenziale aufweist. Die Untersuchung basiert auf wissenschaftlichen Artikeln, Kapiteln aus Sammelbänden, Zeitungsartikeln und öffentlich zugänglichen Statistiken. Die Studie zeigt, dass der Arbeitsinhalt unterschiedliche Gesundheitsrisiken und -gefährdungen für Plattformarbeiter:innen aufweist. Weder in Deutschland noch in Brasilien sind Tätigkeiten in Bereichen plattformvermittelter Personenbeförderung und Essenszustellung finanziell tragfähig. Während in Deutschland Gig-Work eher geringfügig ausgeübt wird, stellt diese Form der Arbeit für viele Gig-Worker:innen in Brasilien die Haupteinnahmequelle dar. Zudem gehen die prekären Arbeitsbedingungen in beiden Ländern mit einer unsicheren Rechtslage einher. Daher sind die Unternehmen oft frei in der Entscheidung hinsichtlich des Geschäfts- und Beschäftigungsmodells. Gleichzeitig wehren sie sich in beiden Ländern weitgehend gegen verbriefte Arbeitnehmer:innenrechte. / This study examines the extent to which platform-mediated service work in the fields of ride hailing and meal delivery in Germany and Brazil contains potentials of precarious disintegration. The study is based on scientific articles, chapters from various edited books, newspaper articles, and publicly available statistics. The study shows that work content presents different health risks and threats for platform workers. Neither in Germany nor in Brazil, activities in platform-mediated ride hailing and meal delivery are financially viable. While in Germany gig work tends to be performed on a marginal basis, for many gig workers in Brazil this form of work is their main source of income. Furthermore, the precarious working conditions in both countries are overshadowed by an uncertain legal situation. Therefore, companies are often free to decide on their business model and the employment relationship. At the same time, in both countries platforms largely resist guaranteed employee rights.

The oar has historically played a significant role for Sweden as a lake andcostal dominated country. For many years small boats called “snipa” wereused to gather fish by people living along the coastlines or alongside lakes.Oars was then the only option for conveying the boat forward. In today’ssociety, oar-propelled boats don’t have the same importance for people toacquire food. However, there are still reasons for a continued use of oars inactivities such as private fishing, competitive rowing or outdoor pursuits.The consumer market today is largely focused on mass production ofproducts, which often results in a reduced availability of custom-made ones.Being able to “engineer to order” is sometimes preferable due to the fact thathigh-quality and robust designs are, in certain respects, essential.Linnaeus University is conducting a research project that has vitalized atraditional Sami hunting and fishing gig boat, designed to be conveyed byoars and requires specially adapted oars for two different types of waterconditions. Currently, private consumers have limited options, for productsthat is designed for this, on the market.The purpose of this work is to describe how the established and well-knownmethodology of Systems Engineering, more specific “Design For SixSigma” (DMADOV), can be used to design and construct oars for use in twodifferent water conditions.

Transportation-network companies such as Uber and Lyft have permeated cities around the world. While they have been lauded for introducing a new mobility option, questions of equity have been raised, including in relation to people with disabilities. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against Uber and Lyft for lack of disabled accessibility of transportation service they facilitate, with some of the lawsuit focusing on wheelchair accessibility. These have been reported in the media while work on the topic is lacking in the academic literature. This doctoral research explores wheelchair accessibility in transportation hailed through Uber and Lyft in the U.S., with a partial focus on the phenomenon in Washington, DC. The study sought to gain insight into wheelchair-accessibility matters with respect to four main stakeholders - riders, companies, drivers, and regulators and other government agencies. The purpose was a) to deepen understanding on the topic based on a holistic approach to core issues and produce evidence-based knowledge and b) to provide policy recommendations where needed. A mixed-methods approach was used to investigate the research problem. The quantitative strand surveyed 341 wheelchair users in the U.S., while the qualitative strand consisted of three sets of 16 qualitative interviews with drivers on the Uber and Lyft apps, Uber and Lyft company representatives, and representatives of relevant government agencies in Washington, DC. The study finds the following: 1) The service might be filling a transportation gap for some wheelchair users even though it is a two-tiered system that disadvantages motorized-wheelchair users. 2) The challenges surrounding wheelchair accessibility are perceived differently by the stakeholders and as a result there are differing views of how to solve them. 3) Overcoming inaccessibility challenge needs to involve changes on both Uber and Lyft and government agencies. Uber and Lyft and government agencies will find this study of interest to help them appreciate other stakeholders' perspective and use the findings to support policy decisions. / Doctor of Philosophy / Transportation-network companies connect drivers who are interested in providing a ride to riders who are looking for transportation through smartphone apps. Uber and Lyft are the most common of these companies. Both companies operate in many cities around the world. They are praised for creating a transportation alternative, but there is a concern that they may not serve everyone equally. For example, people with disabilities, especially wheelchair users have complained that they are not receiving the same service as those who do not use wheelchair. In the US, there are numerous lawsuits have been filed against Uber and Lyft for lack of disabled accessibility. Some of the lawsuit focus on wheelchair accessibility. These issues are reported in the media mostly. This doctoral research looks at wheelchair accessibility in transportation hailed through Uber and Lyft in the U.S., with a partial focus on the phenomenon in Washington, DC. The study sought to gain insight into wheelchair-accessibility matters with respect to four main stakeholders - riders, companies, drivers, and regulators and other government agencies. The purpose was a) to deepen understanding on the topic based on a holistic approach to core issues and produce evidence-based knowledge and b) to provide policy recommendations where needed. A survey and a set of interviews were used to investigate the research problem. The study finds the following: 1) The service might be filling a transportation gap for some wheelchair users even though it is a two-tiered system that disadvantages motorized-wheelchair users. 2) The challenges surrounding wheelchair accessibility are perceived differently by the stakeholders and as a result there are differing views of how to solve them. 3) Overcoming inaccessibility challenge needs to involve changes on both Uber and Lyft and government agencies. Uber and Lyft and government agencies will find this study of interest to help them appreciate other stakeholders' perspective and use the findings to support policy decisions.

Cette thèse a pour but d’étudier l'influence de l'hétérogénéité des forêts de terre ferme en Guyane sur l'organisation des communautés de moyens et grands vertébrés. Nous avons, d'abord, choisi une espèce modèle afin de déterminer une méthode adéquate d'estimation d'abondance prenant en compte la détection imparfaite et l'immigration temporaire des espèces, et de tester l'effet des conditions environnementales à différentes échelles d'analyse. Puis, partant du constat que les biais dus à la détection dans l'estimation d'abondance pouvaient être importants, nous avons déterminé l'importance relative des conditions environnementales et des traits biologiques des espèces sur la probabilité de détection. A partir de ce cadre d'étude, nous avons étudié la composition et les diversités alpha et beta en utilisant de façon complémentaire les métriques taxonomique, fonctionnelle, et phylogénétique pour déterminer le rôle relatif de l'environnement et de la contingence historique dans l'organisation des communautés, et de tester l’hypothèse des refuges forestiers. Enfin, en descendant dans l'échelle d'analyse, nous avons tenté de démêler l'effet de l'environnement et des interactions interspécifiques sur la cooccurrence des espèces, et utilisé les traits fonctionnels des espèces pour tester le lien entre cooccurrence et similitude fonctionnelle. Cette thèse met en avant les rôles prépondérants de la contingence historique et de la facilitation dans, respectivement, la structuration de la diversité régionale et les processus d’assemblages locaux des communautés de moyens et grands vertébrés en Guyane. / The main objective of this thesis was to study the influence of Guianan terra firme rainforests types on medium- and large-sized vertebrates community organization. First, we choose a model species which permitted to develop an appropriate abundance estimation method which take into account the imperfect detection and temporary immigration of mobile species, and to test environmental conditions effects at different spatial scales of analysis. Second, given that bias due to animal detection can be important in the abundance estimation, we determinated the relative role of environmental conditions and species biological traits on detection probability. From this methodological framework, we studied then processes of community organization, by identifying the main determinants involved in community organization, using composition and alpha and beta diversities, and, in a complementary manner, three metrics (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic). We sought from these general framework to determinate the relative role of environmental conditions and historical contingency, responsible for the current community organization, and to test the forest refugia hypothesis. Finally, we downscaled the analysis to determinate, and tried to disentangle the effects of environmental conditions and interspecific interactions on species co-occurrence. We used then functional traits to test the relationship between species co-occurrence and similarities.This thesis highlights the important role of historical contingency and facilitation in the structure of regional diversity and the local assembly processes of medium- and large-sized vertebrates, respectively, in French Guiana.

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to understand how platform providers can develop their offerings and gig platforms depending on the targeted professional freelancers, henceforth referred to just as freelancers. To fulfil the purpose, three research questions (RQ) were developed: RQ1. How do freelancers’ level of experience influence what is important for their work life? RQ2. How do freelancers’ level of experience influence what they want help with from a gig platform? RQ3. How can platform providers create a satisfying gig platform?  Method - A qualitative, explorative approach was used and both freelancers and platform providers in Sweden were interviewed. In total were 23 interviews conducted in three different phases and the data collected was then analysed through two thematic analysis. Findings - The finding showed that new and experienced freelancers found similar things as important for their work life; monetary compensation, freedom, feeling authentic, self-development, social connection, decreasing uncertainty, relationship with the requesting organization (RO), necessary competence and finding new gigs. Experienced freelancers also found it important to scale up their freelancing career. Even though both groups almost found the same categories of aspects important, but their view on them differed. Experienced freelancers had higher expectations and had already accomplished most of them, while the new ones wished to accomplish it in the future. The new freelancers therefore showed a greater interest in gig platforms and wanted more help from platform providers. What new and experienced freelancers wanted help with, and how platform providers can accomplish it, was illustrated and a framework for strategic aspects which platform providers should consider in order to create a satisfying gig platform was developed.  Theoretical and Practical Contribution - The study contributed to the previous literature by highlighting that different groups of freelancers, new and experienced ones, have different views and expectations on things they find important, as well as what they want help with. Additionally, guidance for platform providers on how to create a satisfying gig platform was provided. Limitation and Future Research - This study was limited to Sweden, and it could be of interest to investigate if there are similarities or differences among different countries. It could also be interesting to investigate if the gender of the freelancers’ niche influences their needs. / Syfte – Syftet med denna studie var att förstå hur plattformsägare kan utveckla sina erbjudanden och gigplattformar beroende på vilka professionella frilansare som de riktar sig till, hädanefter bara benämnda som frilansare. För att uppfylla syftet skapades tre forskningsfrågor (FF); FF1. Hur påverkar frilansares erfarenhet vad de tycker är viktigt för sitt arbetsliv? FF2. Hur påverkar frilansares erfarenhet vad de vill ha hjälp med från en gigplattform? FF3. Hur kan plattformsägare skapa en tillfredsställande gigplattform? Metod – Ett kvalitativt, utforskande tillvägagångssätt användes och både frilansare och plattformsägare i Sverige blev intervjuade. Totalt genomfördes 23 intervjuer genom tre olika faser och data analyserades sedan genom två tematiska analyser. Resultat – Resultatet visade att nya och erfarna frilansare tyckte att liknande saker var viktigt för deras arbetsliv; monetär kompensation, frihet, känna sig autentiska, kompetensutveckling, social samhörighet, minska osäkerhet, relationen till kunden, nödvändig kompetens och att hitta nya gigs. Erfarna frilansare tyckte också att det var viktigt att kunna skala upp sin frilansarkarriär. Trots att båda grupperna nästan tyckte att exakt samma kategorier av aspekter var viktiga skiljde sig deras syn på dessa. Erfarna frilansare hade högre förväntningar och hade redan åstadkommit många av dessa kategorier, medan de nya ville uppfylla dem i framtiden. De nya frilansarna visade därför ett större intresse för gigplattformar och ville ha mer hjälp från plattformsägarna. Vad nya och rutinerade frilansarna vill ha hjälp med och hur gigplattformar kan uppfylla detta illustrerades och ett ramverk för strategiska aspekter som är viktiga för plattformsägare att ta hänsyn till för att kunna skapa en tillfredsställande gigplattform utvecklades. Teoretisk och praktiskt bidrag – Studien bidrog till den tidigare forskningen genom att visa att olika grupper av frilansare, nya och erfarna, har olika syn och förväntningar på saker som de tycker är viktigt och även vad de vill ha hjälp med. Utöver detta har vägledning för hur plattformsägare kan skapa en tillfredsställande gigplattform tillhandahållits. Begränsningar och framtida forskning – Studien var begränsad till Sverige och det skulle därför kunna vara intressant att undersöka om det finns likheter eller skillnader mellan olika länder. Det skulle även vara intressant att undersöka om kön och området frilansarna är verksamma inom påverkar deras behov.

This essay explores the early experiences of Bangladeshi blue-collar service workers in digitalising their livelihoods. It is a qualitative study that surveys and interviews service-providers in Dhaka who use the business aggregator platform Sheba.xyz, an online service marketplace, and seeks to understand what brought these self-employed micro-entrepreneurs, previously outside the digital economy, to adopt an ICT-enabled solution. The study is guided by Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory, one of the historically dominant paradigms in the field of communication for development (C4D). The overarching research question is, “Why did blue-collar service-providers in Dhaka adopt and use a digital business aggregator platform?” The aim is to explore what motivated/discouraged and enabled/hindered innovation adoption among a group of users previously marginalised from digital and financial inclusion. The findings suggest that adoption of Sheba.xyz among service-providers was not driven so much by a desire to digitalise one’s business per se, and as a means of mitigating a previous inability to do so. Rather, the factors that emerge from the qualitative data are other perceived relative advantages of the solution – of increase in customers, income, and opportunity. Survey respondents and interviewees also displayed strong affiliation with, and trust in, the platform provider; an alertness for fair treatment; and a drive to prosper, suggesting that they embraced a comprehensive concept and altered life situation where belonging, respect, and self-fulfilment matters, rather than narrowly adopted a new mobile application.

The gig economy can be described as a temporary work-environment where an independent workforce uses platforms to find and draw income from work. In 2016, 20-30% of US and Europe’s population took part in some kind of independent work, and the amount of selfemployed in Sweden is growing. However, at what rate it grows differs depending on how these workers are defined. Within the gig economy, the fastest growing areas of work are in knowledge intensive- and creative environments such as consulting. Using gig consultants provides companies access to top talent within IT, which is required in many businesses and industries where digitalisation is disrupting their ways of working. One of these industries is manufacturing, where e.g. servitisation and Industry 4.0 makes the companies more digital and connected. The purpose of this thesis was to understand how manufacturing companies handle their external talent management and demand for consultant hires within IT, both now and in the future as the amount of gig consultants increases. This was done by conducting interviews with representatives from five Swedish manufacturing companies within automotive and machinery. The interviewees had different roles, but were or had been responsible for hiring consultants within IT. The empirics gained from the interviews were combined with theory, mainly on talent management and managing external talent. The main findings from the study were that in most cases, the companies do not choose between a consultant and a gig consultant, they rather look for the right competence. Gig consultants are however seen as more of experts and can specifically be hired when frontedge or niched competence is needed. On the other hand, consultants can be used when a complete solution has to be delivered as the capacity of a consultancy is higher. To ensure successful consultant hires, the IT departments work with preferred suppliers with whom they have framework agreements to access and hire talent. These suppliers include both consultancies and brokers, from where they get both regular consultants and gig consultants. In general, what defines a successful hire of a consultant is that he or she is sufficiently competent and able to quickly adapt to the company. Additionally, a successful hire is when the project or assignment is completed on time with good result. The main advantages with hiring gig consultants are that acquiring competence can be made easier and more flexible, they can also access more niched competencies. The main disadvantage is that it is unclear who takes responsibility if a gig consultant cannot deliver as they are not part of a firm who can send a replacement. However, some brokers seem to replace the gig consultant. / Gigekonomin kan beskrivas som en tillfällig arbetsmiljö där en självständig arbetsstyrka använder sig av plattformar för att hitta och tjäna pengar på sitt arbete. Under 2016 jobbade 20-30% av befolkningen i USA och Europa med någon form av självständigt arbete, och denna grupp växer i antal i Sverige. Däremot kan tillväxttakten se lite olika ut beroende på hur man definierar dessa självständiga arbetare. De snabbast växande områdena för självständigt arbete inom gigekonomin är i kunskapsintensiva och kreativa områden såsom konsultbranschen. Genom att använda sig av så kallade gigkonsulter kan företag få tillgång till topptalanger och kompetens inom IT, vilket det är ett stort behov av inom många industrier där digitaliseringen radikalt förändrar de arbetssätt som finns. En av dessa industrier är den tillverkande industrin, där bland annat servitisation och Industry 4.0 gör att företagen måste bli mer digitala och uppkopplade. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka hur tillverkande företag jobbar med extern talent management och sitt behov av extern kompetens inom IT, både nu och i framtiden eftersom antalet gigkonsulter ökar. Studien genomfördes genom intervjuer med representanter från fem svenska tillverkande företag med inriktning mot fordon och maskiner. De personer som intervjuades hade olika roller inom företagen, men jobbar med eller har erfarenhet av att hyra in konsulter inom IT. Den empiri som intervjuerna gav kombinerades med teori, huvudsakligen inom talent management och hur man jobbar med extern inhyrning av kompetens. De viktigaste upptäckterna från studien var att företagen i de flesta fall inte väljer mellan en konsult och en gigkonsult, de letar snarare efter rätt kompetens. Gigkonsulter ses dock som experter i större utsträckning och används speciellt när spetskompetens behövs. Däremot används konsulter i större utsträckning när en komplett lösning behöver levereras då ett konsultföretags kapacitet är högre eftersom de har anställda konsulter. För att lyckas med en extern inhyrning så använder företagen så kallade “preferred suppliers” som de har ramavtal med. Bland dessa finns både klassiska konsultföretag med anställda konsulter och så kallade konsultmäklare som de använder för att ta in gigkonsulter. Generellt definierar företagen en inhyrning som lyckad om personen är tillräckligt kompetent och snabbt kan anpassa sig till företaget och dess arbetssätt, och projektet eller uppdraget blir klart i tid med gott resultat. Den främsta fördelen företagen ser med gigkonsulter är att man lättare och mer flexibelt kan få tag på kompetens. Den främsta nackdelen är att det finns en osäkerhet i vem som tar ansvar om en gigkonsult inte kan leverera, eftersom de inte jobbar för en konsultfirma som kan skicka en ersättare. Vissa konsultmäklare verkar dock ordna en ersättare.

Die im Zeitalter des ‚unorganisierten Kapitalismus‘ auftretenden Entgrenzungen und Flexibilisierungen von Arbeit bringen atypische Beschäftigungsformen mit sich, sei es Leiharbeit, Solo-Selbständigkeit oder Graubereiche wie die stetig wachsende ‚Gig Economy‘. Nicht wenige, der in diesen Sektoren tätigen Menschen, sehen sich prekären Bedingungen ausgesetzt – teils mit den entsprechenden gesundheitlichen Folgen wie Depressionen oder Erschöpfungszustände. Überdies sind viele Tätigkeitsfelder marginalisiert und zwar in mehrfacher Hinsicht: So sind einige Gebiete des Entrepreneurship in der Forschung nur wenig bis kaum beachtet, etwa Klein(st)-UnternehmerInnen bestimmter Professionen (z.B. Sexarbeit) oder beispielsweise in migrantischen Kontexten. Andererseits zeigt sich Randständigkeit auch im Forschungsfeld selbst – etwa im Falle von LeiharbeiterInnen, die sich Ausgrenzung und Stigmatisierung gegenübersehen. Die vorliegende kumulative Dissertation bündelt drei wissenschaftliche Artikel, die sich jeweils im Spannungsfeld eben jener Marginalisierung bewegen. Dabei handelt es sich konkret um eine Mehrfachfallstudie zu Selbständigen vor und während der COVID-19-Pandemie, eine Untersuchung zu Stigmatisierung in der Leiharbeit und schließlich ein konzeptionelles Papier, das eine Klassifizierung prekärer und marginalisierter Formen des Entrepreneurship vornimmt. Neben dem Fokus auf Strategien des Umgangs mit prekären Arbeitskontexten ziehen sich durch alle drei Artikel Fragen professioneller und sozialer Identitäten. Dabei ist es insbesondere das konfliktäre Aufeinandertreffen – etwa von Stigmatisierung, professioneller Identität und sozialer Normung – das sich herausarbeiten ließ. Auch widersprüchliche Logiken, wie im Falle der untersuchten UnternehmerInnen, konnten beleuchtet werden. Der organisationale Kontext und entsprechende Rückschlüsse auf Managementprozesse treten vor allem in der Studie zu LeiharbeiterInnen hervor, einige Anschlüsse ergeben sich aber auch in Kategorien des marginalisierten und prekären Entrepreneurship. Methodisch sind die in dieser Dissertation zusammengefassten Beiträge im Bereich der qualitativen Forschung angesiedelt. Trotz des vergleichsweise geringen Anteils entsprechender Arbeiten innerhalb der Wirtschaftswissenschaften, wird deren Bedeutung für die Theoriearbeit, Hypothesengenerierung und damit auch als Basis für quantitative Forschung häufig betont. In der vorliegenden Arbeit ermöglicht der gewählte Ansatz zudem einen Zugang zu den Wirkungen prekärer Arbeit auf individueller Ebene, aber auch einen Blick auf intraorganisationale Prozesse, dies vor allem im Falle der Leiharbeit. / In the age of disorganised capitalism, increasing flexibility of work and deregulation entails atypical forms of employment, such as temporary work, self-employment or grey areas like the steadily growing 'gig economy'. People working in these sectors are often exposed to precarious conditions, sometimes leading to health problems such as depression or fatigue. In addition, many occupational fields are marginalised in more than one way: For example, some areas of entrepreneurship have received only little or hardly any attention in research, such as micro entrepreneurs in certain professions (e.g., sex work) or within contexts of migration. On the other hand, marginalisation is also evident in the actual fields of research. This can be seen in the case of temporary workers, who face organisational segregation and stigmatisation. This series of papers presents three articles, each of which is framed by marginalisation and precarious contexts. Namely, this involves a multiple case study of four self-employed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, an examination of stigmatisation in the field of temporary work as well as a conceptual paper that proposes a classification of precarious and marginalised forms of entrepreneurship. While focusing on strategies of coping with contexts of precarious work, questions of professional and social identities emerge in all three papers. In particular, conflicting elements – such as stigma, professional identity and social norms – were identified. Similarly, it was possible to shed light on conflicting logics, as in the case of self-employed entrepreneurs. The organisational context and conclusions about management processes were most prominent in the study on temporary workers, whereas some correlations also emerged in categories of marginalised and precarious entrepreneurship. From a methodological point of view, the studies gathered in this dissertation are all positioned in the field of qualitative research. Despite the rather moderate proportion of such work within economics, its importance for theoretical work, the generation of hypotheses and thereby as a basis for quantitative research is often emphasised. In the studies at hand, the chosen approach provides an insight into the effects of precarious work at an individual level, but also into intra-organisational processes, especially in the case of temporary agency work.

The digital age has unleashed limitless opportunities and transformed how we work, play and live. As a result, more people embrace the digital nomad lifestyle to fulfill both personal and professional goals. This research assesses the advantages and disadvantages that are associated with this lifestyle. In addition, I examine the digital nomad characteristics in Bali and how the digital nomad community in Bali supports professional development. Data were collected during a two-month field study in Bali, which is one of the world’s most popular digital nomad hubs. The findings suggest that digital nomads are predominantly millennials from advanced economies who have different academic backgrounds. Freedom is the primary advantage, while overall job satisfaction and productivity dramatically differ. Overall, members of Bali’s digital nomad community feel supported in their professional development. “Spend your days on a nine to five You waste your time on a central line What do you love? Work two jobs tryin' stay alive You spend your money on a Friday night Tell me, what do you love?” – Jacob Banks / Digitaliseringen har skapat oändligt många möjligheter och förändrat hur vi arbetar, umgås och lever i dagens samhälle. Det har resulterat i att allt fler provar på en livsstil som digital nomad för att uppnå både personliga och professionella mål. Den här uppsatsen analyserar fördelar och nackdelar som är förknippade med en livsstil som digital nomad. Dessutom undersöker jag vad som karaktäriserar digitala nomader på Bali och hur gemenskapen bland digitala nomader på Bali kan gynna professionell utveckling. Insamling av data skedde under en två månaders fältstudie på Bali, vilket är en av världens mest populära digital nomad hubbar. Resultatet visar att digitala nomader är främst millenials från i-länder med olika akademisk bakgrund. Frihet är den främsta fördelen, medan generell arbetstillfredsställelse och produktivitet varierar dramatiskt. Medlemmar av Balis digitala nomadgemenskap känner att de utvecklas professionellt. “Spend your days on a nine to five You waste your time on a central line What do you love? Work two jobs tryin' stay alive You spend your money on a Friday night Tell me, what do you love?” – Jacob Banks

This thesis explores precarization of work and subject formation in seven post-referendum Brexit novels through theories of cognitive capitalism and biopolitical production. The analysis is anchored in Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s reconceptualization of Michel Foucault’s notion of biopolitics. Hardt and Negri combine the concept of biopolitics with contemporary theories of cognitive capitalism and immaterial labour, to illuminate how subjects are subsumed into a system of biopower in which capitalistic production has become biopolitical production. I argue that the Brexit novels examined in this thesis demonstrate how the intrinsic bond between production and life shapes the characters’ relationship to the referendum. As the characters are caught between individual goals and communal values, in a system that demands that they take sole responsibility for their own success while also being responsible democratic citizens, the referendum produces conflicted subjects that experience deep internal and external conflicts in relation to Brexit.