About Us
The Platform Lab is dedicated to studying the proliferation of platforms and their various roles in everyday life. From video distribution and production (Netflix) to social media (TikTok, Twitter), transactional intermediaries (Uber), apps and their increasing platformization (LINE and WeChat), the automobile industry, the financial sector, and the state, we critically examine the various uses of the platform concept in all its forms. We are particularly committed to the critical study of platforms and their global, regional, or national impacts, with attention paid to their political economies, their uneven power relations and geographical distributions, and their impact on cultural production and consumption. Our work examines the terminological proliferation of the platform concept and the managerial strategies behind it, the practical hardware or software incarnations of these platform objects, and their social, political, and cultural effects.
Our current theme for 2023-24, Platform Capitalisms, examines the various shapes that platform economies take in different global contexts. Through our annual speaker series and lab report, we will be focused on examining both major and alternative platforms, the regulatory contexts in which they exist, and their effects on labour dynamics.
The Platform Lab also hosts a number of platform-related projects. One of these maps the place of animation in the platform streaming environment, which includes the “Anime Streaming Platform Wars” lab report. This includes the analysis of the impacts of platforms on anime (in its regional and global circulation), as well as the queer theoretical interventions in animation studies. Another is our Super Apps project, focusing on the intermediary power of dominant platforms the world over. A third project examines the managerial strategies and practices around platforms, including the longer histories of platforms in distinct industrial contexts from the distribution of moving images, to automobile production, to the convenience store industry.
