The Price of Stuff That We 'Want'

For this week's readings, the article titled, Circuits of Labour: A Labour Theory of iPhone Era struck me as quite interesting. The authors propose the circuit of labour model that connects different facets of labour and the study of ICT (information and communication technology). In order to highlight all elements of ICT labour, the authors look at the immersion of the Apple iPhone. This example helps to illustrate how contemporary circuits of labour work and exist. The authors break down the processes of labour, and how contemporary body's work under capital. The model helps to debunk the different types of labour, for example "wage labour vs. free/volunteer labour". Particularly, it looks across countries and institutions by addressing the concept of "sweat shops", and the discriminatory and illegal behaviour that is practised - all due to material production caused by capital gain. Which brings me to my next point.

The article addresses the counter cultural movement against the Foxconn events of the twenty-first century - titled The Phone Story. The Phone Story is a satirical video game that was released in order to highlight "the dark side of your Smartphone". The users would be able to follow their phone around the world, and witness the complex illegal process of labour and extreme working conditions for labourers. The game was available for both iPhone and Android users, yet was quickly banned from the App Store due to it not complying to Apple's terms and conditions of Apps. Creators: Molleindustria, planned to revamp the game, and sure enough making it available for Android users in 2011.

The Phone Story, Wired

I decided to look a little deeper into this video game as it was really interesting to me. Here is a YouTube video to give you an idea of the game and its content:

This counter-culture movement, reminded me of an article I read a while back by the NY Times titled The Price of Nails. The Price of Nails, NY Times

The article discusses the exploited work of manicurists, particularly in NYC, yet it is a persisting issue within North America. The article looks at the "Manicure Capital" and how it is primarily evident in NYC among Asian and Hispanic women. The article is very similar to the arguments as it touches on the circuit of labour that exists within this realm of beauty and how workers are persistently exploited due to capital means in the United States. One thing that really stood out is when they compare the abundance of nail salons to the ubiquitous amount of Starbucks (which is understood as a coffee shop nearly on every corner). Yet to my surprise, nail salons nearly triple the amount of Starbucks in a ten block radius.  Even though this article does not consider ICT it connects to the concepts of a network of labour, and how a specific demographic shares a relationship, especially a "disadvantaged" group of works, like these Asian and Hispanic women.