Dr. Barbara Orth
Research Associate | Economy and Civil Society
03362 793-242
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Since April 2024, Barbara Orth has been a postdoctoral research associate in the research area 'Economy and Civil Society' at the IRS and contibutes to the lead project.

During her PhD work at Free University (FU) Berlin, Barbara explored digital platforms as migration infrastructures, particularly in the realm of reproductive services. Prior to joining FU, she conducted research on queer support structures in Berlin’s labour market and labour market access for refugees and asylum seekers. She has several years of professional experience in the non-profit sector working with migrants.

Barbara holds a B.A. in International Relations (University of East Anglia/ Akita International University) and an M.Sc. in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (University of Oxford).

Selected Publications by Year

2024
Stingl, I., & Orth, B. (2024). Becoming “Platform Workers”: A Biographical Exploration of Temporary Visa and Worker Subjectivities in the Gig Economy. International Migration Review, [online first]. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01979183241299717
Orth, B., & Baum, F. (2024). Researching Care Platforms: Methodological and Ethical Considerations in the Broad Field of Domestic Platform Labour. Critical Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241280360
Orth, B. (2024). Feministischer Aktivismus. In B. Belina, M. Naumann, & A. Strüver (Eds.), Handbuch Kritische Stadtgeographie (6., völlig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage ed., pp. 381-392). Westfälisches Dampfboot.
Orth, B. (2024). Stratified pathways into platform work: Migration trajectories and skills in Berlin’s gig economy. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(2), 476-490. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X231191933
2023
Orth, B., Jahre, S., & Schmiz, A. (2023). Reproduktive Widersprüche im Plattform-Urbanismus von Körpern aus denken. Sub\urban: Zeitschrift für kritische Stadtforschung, 11(1/2). https://doi.org/10.36900/suburban.v11i1/2.851
2022
Orth, B. (2022). “Riders United Will Never Be Divided?": A Cautionary Tale of Disrupting Platform Urbanism. In A. Strüver, & S. Bauriedl (Eds.), Platformisation of Urban Life: Towards a Techno Capitalist Transformation of European Cities (pp. 185-204). (Urban Studies). Transcript. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839459645-012
2021
Orth, B. (2021, Apr). Engaging Feminist Geographies in Platform Research. https://boris.unibe.ch/156008/1/FeministGeoRundMail_85_April2021.pdf
Orth, B. (2021). Krisenbearbeitung durch digitale Plattformen: Rezension zu Moritz Altenried, Julia Dück und Mira Wallis (Hsg.) (2021): Plattformkapitalismus und die Krise der sozialen Reproduktion. Sub\urban: Zeitschrift für kritische Stadtforschung, 9(3/4), 380–386. https://doi.org/10.36900/suburban.v9i3/4.724

Selected Publications by Type

Journal Article
Stingl, I., & Orth, B. (2024). Becoming “Platform Workers”: A Biographical Exploration of Temporary Visa and Worker Subjectivities in the Gig Economy. International Migration Review, [online first]. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01979183241299717
Orth, B., & Baum, F. (2024). Researching Care Platforms: Methodological and Ethical Considerations in the Broad Field of Domestic Platform Labour. Critical Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205241280360
Orth, B. (2024). Stratified pathways into platform work: Migration trajectories and skills in Berlin’s gig economy. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(2), 476-490. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X231191933
Orth, B., Jahre, S., & Schmiz, A. (2023). Reproduktive Widersprüche im Plattform-Urbanismus von Körpern aus denken. Sub\urban: Zeitschrift für kritische Stadtforschung, 11(1/2). https://doi.org/10.36900/suburban.v11i1/2.851
Contribution to Anthology
Orth, B. (2024). Feministischer Aktivismus. In B. Belina, M. Naumann, & A. Strüver (Eds.), Handbuch Kritische Stadtgeographie (6., völlig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage ed., pp. 381-392). Westfälisches Dampfboot.
Orth, B. (2022). “Riders United Will Never Be Divided?": A Cautionary Tale of Disrupting Platform Urbanism. In A. Strüver, & S. Bauriedl (Eds.), Platformisation of Urban Life: Towards a Techno Capitalist Transformation of European Cities (pp. 185-204). (Urban Studies). Transcript. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839459645-012
Contribution to Forum or Blog
Orth, B. (2021, Apr). Engaging Feminist Geographies in Platform Research. https://boris.unibe.ch/156008/1/FeministGeoRundMail_85_April2021.pdf
Review in Journal
Orth, B. (2021). Krisenbearbeitung durch digitale Plattformen: Rezension zu Moritz Altenried, Julia Dück und Mira Wallis (Hsg.) (2021): Plattformkapitalismus und die Krise der sozialen Reproduktion. Sub\urban: Zeitschrift für kritische Stadtforschung, 9(3/4), 380–386. https://doi.org/10.36900/suburban.v9i3/4.724

Talks

2024
Visa Categories in Platform Labour

ESA 2024 Tension, Trust and Transformation

August/01/2024
Porto, Porto, Portugal

Blind spots and/or misunderstandings in gig economy scholarship

Continuity and Change

June/04/2024
Collegium Helveticum, Zürich, Switzerland

It's like Uber, but for Care? How mediation through digital platforms affects care work

re:publica Berlin 2024

May/29/2024
Station Berlin, Berlin, Germany

New mobility pathways from the Global South to Europe's Urban Platform Economies

Future of Work in the Global South and Global North Symposium

May/02/2024
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Going beyond the place of production - Learning from care and migrantized labor to broaden our understanding of platforms, resistance, and subjective precarity

42nd International Labour Process Conference

April/03/2024
Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

Dr. Barbara Orth in the Media

Saubere Sache oder schmutzige Geschäfte?
(ZDF heute, 11/08/2024)
South Asian Workers in Europe Deserve Better
(Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, 08/28/2024)
Wenn der Personalmangel die Karten neu verteilt
(ntv.de, 05/31/2024)