Are you interested in platformization, digitization and the global sex industry? Is it your ambition to become an interdisciplinary researcher at the intersection of social science and media studies?
We are seeking two PhD candidates for the project ‘The platformization of the global sex industry: Markets, morals, and mass intimacy’, which is funded by the Dutch Science Foundation (NWO) and led by Prof. Olav Velthuis (Department of Sociology) and Dr Thomas Poell (Department of Media Studies). With their low entry barriers, their live and interactive character, webcam platforms are among the sex industry’s fastest growing segments.
But despite its multi-billion-dollar turnover and their highly disputed social and economic impact, empirical knowledge of the industry is limited. The main aim of this project is to analyse competition, working conditions and regulation within the industry. In doing so, the project will focus on the webcam industry in the United States, Romania and The Netherlands.
PhD candidate 1 will focus on the way inter-platform and intra-platform competition are organized in the global webcamming industry. PhD candidate 2 will focus on working conditions of performers on platforms, and the opportunities and risks which they face.
