斯迈思意识工业理论视角下数字劳工主体性困境分析

An Analysis of the Subjectivity Dilemma of Digital Labor from the Perspective of Smythe’s Theory of the Consciousness Industry

摘要: 意识工业理论产生于大众媒介时代，这一理论一方面通过分析传播政治经济运行机制，提出了具有独创性的“受众力”这一范畴，另一方面延续了传统意识形态的合法性辩护或批判功能，对受众的主体性困境进行了深刻的揭露。在数字时代，大众媒介逐渐向平台型的新媒介转型，媒介和受众的关系也呈现出新特征与新趋势，数字劳动是数字时代全新的劳动范式，其本质是生产性劳动，数字劳工产生的有价值的数据被数字平台无偿占有。资本和技术对公众思想控制的升级，体现在算法推荐技术下用户思维片面化和极化的发展。数字平台通过参与式文化、“玩劳动”为用户编织的自由幻想以制造同意，使大众丧失主体性，深陷数字异化的泥沼。由此，需要在个人层面、技术层面和劳动保护这三个维度探讨摆脱数字劳工主体性困境的路径，为人的自由全面解放提供可能。

Abstract: The theory of consciousness industry emerged in the era of mass media, which, on one hand, analyzes the operational mechanisms of the political economy of communication and introduces the original concept of “audience power”, on the other hand, it continues the traditional function of legitimizing or criticizing ideology, profoundly revealing the issue of individual alienation. In the digital age, the transition of mass media to platform-based media is underway, with the dynamics between media and audience manifesting new features and trends. Digital labor emerges as a new labor paradigm of the digital era, inherently productive in nature. The data generated by digital workers hold value, which is often appropriated by digital platforms without compensation. The escalation of capital and technology’s control over public thought is manifested in the one-sided and polarized development of user thinking under algorithmic recommendation technology. Digital platforms weave illusions of freedom through participatory culture and “play labor” to manufacture consent, causing the masses to lose their subjectivity and become mired in the quagmire of digital alienation. Therefore, it is necessary to explore paths to overcome the subjectivity predicament of digital workers on individual, technological, and labor protection dimensions, providing possibilities for the free and comprehensive liberation of human beings.