Injustice by design: A critical technocultural discourse and Latina feminist analysis of Amazon's ACX audiobook labor platform

The commercial audiobook arena is a generative site for studying how the value laden designs of digital labor platforms are impacting workers along intersectional lines. Though a global multi-billion-dollar industry that can be traced back to Edison's invention of the phonograph, audiobooks remain relatively understudied, particularly as it relates to audiobook labor. If we are to construct an equitable and just digital labor future, it is critical that we understand how workers experience the work. Additionally, to develop worker protections and policies that are attune to the racialized and gendered dimensions of platform labor, we must be in conversation with diverse workers. This work takes a closer look at Amazon's Audiobook Creation Exchange (AXC) labor platform and centers the experiences of US-Latina audiobook narrators as Amazon has held a virtual monopoly of digital audiobooks. The lack of regulatory frameworks has allowed Amazon free rein to obfuscate and infuse unjust labor practices via the design of its platforms. This allows it to control and surveille the workers and the work, while keeping itself out of reach from accountability. I center U.S.-based Latinas in my analysis because they bring multidimensional perspectives that are critical to detangling how power is operationalized in the digital economy. And, while geographically located within the U.S., Latina voices are under-represented in media, policymaking, and digital/platform labor scholarship. Thus, the North/South binary does not offer a space but, instead, furthers US-Latina invisibility. By employing a braided Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis (CTDA) and Latina Feminist approach, I surface the ways that an emphasis on Latinas furthers our understanding of platform work. While some of their experiences may not be unique to Latinas, centering these women brings to focus issues and practices embedded within labor platform design that may not be considered from white and/or single-axis perspectives.