[iDC] Introduction

[Ursula Huws]

The persuasive Trebor has convinced me that I too should introduce
myself to the list. I find it very hard to classify myself (perhaps all
intellectuals secretly believe ourselves to be generalists). I have been
researching and writing for many years about the commodification of
'knowledge' work and the development of a new global division of labour
from a perspective that has been described by others as 'feminist
political economy'.
A collection of my essays was published in 2003 by Monthly Review Press
under the title 'The Making of a Cybertariat'.
I edit an interdisciplinary journal called Work Organisation Labour and
Globalisation (see http://www.cybertariat.com) that comes out twice a
year. It is independent and produced by voluntary labour so it needs all
the support it can get. If you like it, do please get your university
library to subscribe. You can get a feel of what it's like and where I'm
coming from by reading the introductory articles which are available
online without charge. One place to start might be my introduction to
the issue that was entitled 'The Spark in the Engine: Creative Workers
in a Global Economy'. This can be downloaded from
http://analytica.metapress.com/content/l33861q73h1j7k51/fulltext.pdf
or you can see the contents of other issues on 
http://analytica.metapress.com/content/ll73700un446/?p=facc772cc65b4f88a
d1d16240824d857&pi=4
We always welcome contributions and feedback, critical or otherwise, and
a global network is starting to grow up around the journal. We have just
set up a facebook group on
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=250479890322&ref=ts
If you want to post details of your publications, courses or conferences
there, please feel free to join and use it.
Looking forward to following the interesting debates on this list,
Best wishes
Ursula Huws