Algorithmic management in the logistics centre: automation, work, capture
Logistics is a key area where the digitalisation of work is advancing rapidly. It is driven by large software and logistics companies that are restructuring and networking logistics chains and reorganising and distributing work in the process. It is in logistics centres, where algorithmic systems equipped with sensors to collect data are used, that the relationship between machine and work and the future of automation are being negotiated. More far-reaching debates about black box societies or algorithmic governance negotiate the opportunities and dangers of algorithmic control systems for politics, culture and society. These become much clearer and more acute in logistics chains. The research project therefore aims to use two case studies to explore exemplary algorithmic systems for organising work in logistics centres from the perspectives of media cultural studies and the sociology of technology. This will explore their opportunities and risks as well as the scope for action for actors such as trade unions and civil society.
Main research areas
- Media and organisation
- Digital Cultures
- Algorithmic Management
- Logistics and Automation
- High Frequency Trading
Curriculum Vitae
- Since 11/2017: Academic Advisor at the Department of Media Studies, University of Siegen
- 10/2013-10/2017: Junior Director of the Digital Cultures Research Lab at the Centre for Digital Cultures, Leuphana University Lüneburg
- 02/2017-03/2017: Visiting Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
- 01/2012-09/2013: Research Assistant (PostDoc) at the Innovation Incubator, Leuphana University Lüneburg
- 09/2008-08/2011: Lecturer / Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England
Lectures and Publications
- Beverungen, A. (2019, ed.). Executive dashboard. In T. Beyes, R. Holt, & C. Pias (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Technology, Media and Organization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Beverungen, A., Schröter, J., Mirowski, P., & Nik-Khah, E. (2019). Markets. Minneapolis / Lüneburg: University of Minnesota Press and meson press.
- Beverungen, A., & Lange, A.-C. (2018). Cognition in High-Frequency Trading: The Costs of Consciousness and the Limits of Automation. Theory, Culture & Society, 35(6), 75-95.
- Beverungen, A. (2018). ‘Cognitive capitalism’? Nonconscious cognition and mass intellectuality. Journal For Media Studies, 18, 37-49.
- Beverungen, A. (2017). Algorithmic management. In T. Beyes, J. Metelmann, & C. Pias (Eds.), After the revolution: A breviary of digital cultures (pp. 51-63). Hamburg: Edition Speersort.