TY - CHAP

T1 - Home for Hire

T2 - How the sharing economy commoditises our private sphere

AU - Bialski, Paula

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - Since the rise of the sharing economy in recent years, mass media (the Economist (2013), The New York Times, and the Guardian (2014), to name a few), have scoffed at the word ‘sharing’ and questioned the term ‘economy’ – critiquing the do-goody, fluffy nature in which the term ‘sharing,’ arrives at your consciousness first, hiding the term ‘economy’, and making the whole practice “seem selfless” (Singer 2015). The term ‘sharing economy’ was first associated with online technologies that match providers or owners of certain goods (like a couch to sleep on) or services (like dog walking) with consumers – allowing users to access goods and services without the necessity of ownership. That being said, these recent mass media discourses have promoted an understanding that this form of ‘sharing’ is indeed much akin to an economic exchange. What has not been presented thus far is a critique of that which is being ‘shared’ or sold, and how this form of economy is helping capitalise on spheres of life which have formally been off limits to monetisation. This chapter is about the ways in which recent transformations in economic life – through the phenomenon of short-term apartment ‘sharing’ or renting – have placed some of the most intimate and private spheres for purchase: namely, the home and everything that comes with it: privacy, intimacy, candidness, and authenticity.

AB - Since the rise of the sharing economy in recent years, mass media (the Economist (2013), The New York Times, and the Guardian (2014), to name a few), have scoffed at the word ‘sharing’ and questioned the term ‘economy’ – critiquing the do-goody, fluffy nature in which the term ‘sharing,’ arrives at your consciousness first, hiding the term ‘economy’, and making the whole practice “seem selfless” (Singer 2015). The term ‘sharing economy’ was first associated with online technologies that match providers or owners of certain goods (like a couch to sleep on) or services (like dog walking) with consumers – allowing users to access goods and services without the necessity of ownership. That being said, these recent mass media discourses have promoted an understanding that this form of ‘sharing’ is indeed much akin to an economic exchange. What has not been presented thus far is a critique of that which is being ‘shared’ or sold, and how this form of economy is helping capitalise on spheres of life which have formally been off limits to monetisation. This chapter is about the ways in which recent transformations in economic life – through the phenomenon of short-term apartment ‘sharing’ or renting – have placed some of the most intimate and private spheres for purchase: namely, the home and everything that comes with it: privacy, intimacy, candidness, and authenticity.

KW - Digital media

KW - Sociology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050263300&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4324/9781315660646

DO - 10.4324/9781315660646

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781138959415

T3 - Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy

SP - 83

EP - 95

BT - Sharing Economies in Times of Crisis

A2 - Ince, Anthony

A2 - Hall, Sarah Marie

PB - Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

CY - Oxford

ER -