Exclusionary Discourses and the Role of ‘Stylised Facts’ in Digital Platform Research

• In Event: Silencing Dissent

Abstract

The dominant tradition of analysis of the power of digital platforms by policy makers who are interested market
power makes use of very specific and stylised ‘facts’ drawn from
both neoclassical and institutional economics. In consequence
a silencing effect which occurs as a result of the use of analytical
tools what place much analysis being arguably relevant to digital
policies outside the framework of analysis. This paper focuses on these stylised ‘facts’ or assumptions to
demonstrate why they exclude or render unnecessary the insights
arising from critical traditions which frequently inform the concerns
of citizens and civil society movements about the growing power of
digital platforms. The aim is to illustrate how the dominant discourse
works to exclude and in doing so also works to exclude the voices of
those who offer alternative explanations from certain forums where key
decisions are made about the governance or regulation of platform
companies.

Author

• Robin Elizabeth Mansell, London School of Economics