Domesticating the Market: Moral Exchange and the Sharing Economy

• In Event: 3224 - The Meanings of Money, Property, and Relationships

Abstract

The 'sharing economy' is a contested realm, with critics arguing it represents a further development of neoliberalism, as platforms such as Airbnb and TaskRabbit, monetize previously uncommodified realms of life via renting of bedrooms, possessions, space, and labor time. To date, this debate has largely ignored participants’ views. Using data from 120 in-depth interviews with providers in two for-profit and three not-for-profit sites, we find that most see the sharing economy differently, as an opportunity to build a radically different market, from the bottom up. Like the detractors, they are critical of dominant market arrangements, however, they believe the sharing sector can construct personalized exchanges that are morally attuned, based on ideals of community, and that help them achieve creative and financial autonomy in their working lives. These aspirations represent an attempt to tame, or domesticate the neoliberal market.

Authors

• Lindsey Carfagna, Thomas Edison State University

• Connor John Fitzmaurice, Boston University

• Isak Ladegaard, Boston College

• Will Attwood-Charles, Boston College

• Juliet B. Schor, Boston College

• Robert Wengronowitz, Augustana College