Valentin Niebler
valentin.niebler(at) hu-berlin.de
- Associated Member of the BIM
Profile
Valentin Niebler is pursuing his doctorate at the Institute of European Ethnology at Humboldt University Berlin and is an associated member at BIM. His dissertation focuses on labor conflicts and class actions of migrant IT professionals in Germany.
Previously, he worked as a research associate in the Horizon 2020 project PLUS (Platform Labour in Urban Spaces), which examines the impacts of the expansion of digital platforms on work in urban areas. He has also been involved with the Centre for Digital Cultures at Leuphana University Lüneburg, in the project "Trade Unions in Transition 4.0" at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and in collaboration with the Fairwork Foundation. He completed his studies in social sciences at Humboldt University Berlin, the University of Würzburg, and the New School for Social Research in New York. He is part of the DFG network "Emancipatory Technology Research."
Supervision
- Manuela Bojadžijev, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- Sandro Mezzadra, Università di Bologna
Academic Publications
- 2025: What is a tech worker, really? On the meanings and meaning-making of a term. In: Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation. 2025. Vol. 19(1):14-30.
- 2025: Trouble in paradise? Tech work and its discontents. In: Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation, Vol. 19(1):7-13. (mit Helene Thaa, Sandra Sieron und Felix Gnisa)
- 2024: ‘What damage could a small breeze do to a fence?’ The lack of collective action on ride-hailing platforms in Berlin and Tallinn. In: Economic and Industrial Democracy (mit Stefania Animento, Kairit Kall, Marge Unt, Triin Roosalu und Liis Ojamäe)
- 2024: Latent Conflict, Invisible Organisation: Everyday Struggles in Platform Labour. In: Mezzadra, S., Cuppini, N., Frapporti, M., Pirone, M. (eds) Capitalism in the Platform Age. Springer Studies in Alternative Economics. Springer, Cham. (mit Moritz Altenried)
- 2023: Organising fragmented labor: the case of Helpling workers in Berlin. In: The Economic and Labour Relations Review. 34(4): 689-706. (mit Stefania Animento)
- 2023: Transcending Borders? Horizons and Challenges of Global Tech Worker Solidarity. In: Journal of Political Sociology 1 (2).
- 2023: Coalitional Power in the Digital Economy: Alliances of Gig and Tech Workers. In: Trajectories of platform capitalism and platform work (Special Issue). Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung
- 2023: Spekulative Konflikte: Zum Verhältnis zwischen Arbeitskämpfen und Finanzmärkten in der Digitalökonomie. In: Martin Oppelt / Falko Blumenthal: Digitalisierung von Gegenmacht. Gewerkschaftliche Konfliktfähigkeit und Arbeitskampf heute. Bielefeld: transcript (mit Franziska Cooiman)
- 2023: Der Fragmentierung begegnen: Zur Organisierung migrantischer Reinigungskräfte in der Plattformökonomie. Hans-Böckler-Stiftung: WSI-Mitteilungen 4/2023, S. 252-260 (mit Moritz Altenried und Stefania Animento)
- 2023: Towards ‘Bogus Employment’? The Contradictory Outcomes of Ride-Hailing Regulation in Berlin, Lisbon and Paris. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Volume 16, Issue 2, July 2023, Pages 289–301 (mit Giorgio Pirina, Michelangelo Secchi, Franco Tomassoni)
- 2022: Fragmentierte Arbeit, verallgemeinerter Konflikt: Alltägliche Auseinandersetzungen in der Plattformarbeit. In: Heiland, H.; Schaupp S. (2022): Widerstand im Arbeitsprozess. Bielefeld: Transcript (mit Moritz Altenried)
- 2021: Öffentliche Mobilitätsplattformen. Digitale Strategien für eine sozial-ökologische Mobilitätswende. Institut für Gesellschaftsanalyse, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung (mit Dominik Piétron und Anouk Ruhaak)
- 2020: YouTubers unite: collective action by YouTube content creators. Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research.
- 2020: Platform Labour: Contingent Histories and New Technologies. Soft Power Journal Revista euro-americana de teorìa e historia de la politica y del derecho. Issue 1 (7,1) – January-June 2020 (mit Moritz Altenried und Jude Macannuco)
- 2020: Organising YouTube. A novel case of worker organizing. Trade Unions in Transition 4.0. Studie der Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (mit Annemarie Kern)
Lectures (Selection)
- 2025: Class-Making of Migrant Tech Workers in Berlin. 5th ISA Forum of Sociology, Rabat (Marokko)
- 2025: Tech Workers: Marginalisierung oder Gegenmacht? Blockseminar "Soziologie des Ingenieurberufs" (TU Berlin & IG Metall), IG-Metall-Haus Berlin
- 2024: It's like Uber, but for Care? Wie sich Vermittlung durch digitale Plattformen auf Care-Arbeit auswirkt. re:publica 24, Berlin
- 2024: Unusual Suspects: Migration and White-Collar Conflict in Berlin's Tech Industry. 42nd International Labour Process Conference, Universität Göttingen
- 2023: Within and against: tech workers, migration and labor alliances in Berlin. Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)
- 2023: Tackling 'Rule and Divide': Alliances of Gig and Tech Workers. Conference 'Global Perspectives on Platforms, Labor and Social Reproduction', University of Amsterdam
- 2023: Beyond Fragmentation: Cross-Status Alliances in Tech. Department of Arts, University of Bologna
- 2023: Joint Forces? Coalition-Building against Tech Corporations. Panel "Circulation Obsession – Following the Flows and Flaws of Big Tech’s Urban Logistical Infrastructures", STS Hub Aachen
- 2022: Coalitional Power in Digital Capitalism: Alliances of Gig and Tech Workers SASE Conference 2022, University of Amsterdam
- 2021: Platforms, Social Reproduction and Migration – The Case of Helpling in Berlin. PLUS TALKS, Gender and Platform Labour: The platformisation of paid care, cleaning and domestic work. Online Webinar (mit Moritz Altenried)
- 2021: Evade, Deceive, Unite: Worker Power through Costumer Coalitions on Digital Platforms, Politics and Ethics of Platform Labour: Learning from Lived Experiences. Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Cambridge
- 2021: Organizing Youtube: Collective Action on the Platform, Panel Collective Action, Organising and Mobilisations in the Platform Economy. IV ISA Forum of Sociology, online (mit Annemarie Kern)
- 2019: Algorithmisches Management auf YouTube, Workshop Unsichtbare Herrschaft – wie tief greift algorithmisches Management?, Konferenz LABOR.A 2019: Plattform ‚Arbeit der Zukunft‘, Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. Cafe Moskau, Berlin
Teachings
- Winter Semester 2021/22: Crisis and Capitalism, BA Seminar, Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin (with Franziska Cooiman)
- Summer Semester 2017: Labor Struggles in Digital Capitalism, Student Project Tutorial, Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin (with Franziska Baum)
- Winter Semester 2016/17: Labor Struggles in Digital Capitalism, Student Project Tutorial, Institute of Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin
Journalistic Contributions & Reporting
- 2025: Job beim Lieferdienst - wie Fahrer ausgebeutet werden. ZDF WISO, 30.08.2025
- 2025: How tech work is changing in the new global conjuncture. Pluto Journals, 1.7.2025
- 2025: Wie Lieferando das Arbeits- und Sozialrecht in Spandau umgeht. Gerechte Arbeit, 2.4.2025
- 2024: Tech-Workers: Marginalisierung oder Gegenmacht? Rosa-Luxemburg Stiftung, 2.4.2024
- 2024: Digitalisierung und Macht. Direkte Aktion, 20.3.2024
- 2023: Tilting at Windmills? To Really Be a Step Forward, the EU Directive Would Need to Address Loopholes Created Through Subcontracting. Verfassungsblog, 18.7.2023
- 2023: Ausbeutung bei Lieferdiensten: Nur zum Schein beschäftigt. taz, 19.6.2023
- 2023: How to avoid the Platform Work Directive flopping: Learn from experience. The Gig Economy Project Newsletter, 14.5.2023
- 2022: Kämpfe in der Abwärtsspirale. Kritisch Lesen, Ausgabe 63, „Pandemisches Zeitalter”
- 2021: Kampf um Regulierungen. Jacobin Magazin (mit Moritz Altenried)
- 2020: Kybernetische Proletarisierung: Wie in der Pandemie existierende Konflikte verschärft werden. Interview mit Simon Schaupp, Berliner Gazette
- 2020: On-Demand. Prekär. Systemrelevant. Der Freitag (mit Moritz Altenried und Mira Wallis)
- 2018: Im Maschinenraum der Digitalisierung. Malmoe Zeitung
* * *