DIGITAL LABOR AND LABOR DEVELOPMENTS IN THE POSTMODERN CONTEXT

Postmodernism has undergone significant transformations due to globalization and digital technology, particularly in relation to digital labor. Scholars have proposed various postmodern theories, each offering distinct perspectives and focusing on specific domains; however, we will confine our discussion to those addressing labor and digital labor. This study seeks to analyze, compare, and critique various efforts to depict the nature of labor and digital labor in the postmodern era, aiming to uncover the essence of human self and the significance of human values and reality within digital labor. This will be achieved by examining postmodern theories from a technological standpoint, with particular focus on digimodernism and automodernism. The study determined a significant divergence among postmodern theorists about humanity's role in digital labor, noting that the prevailing authoritarian and regressive narratives of neoliberalism continue to influence both humanity and digital labor in the postmodern context. Among the outcomes of this period are encouraging workforce reduction, skill diminishment, or even the elimination of professions. This is reflected in the worsening cycles of economic and social crises under capitalism, and it continuously and rapidly imposes new forms of alienation on all individuals.