MANAGEMENT OF THE SELF IN VIRTUAL WORK: SELF-ORGANISATION AND CONTROL AMONG PROFESSIONAL ONLINE POKER PLAYERS Kaire Holts Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2017 © 2017 Kaire Holts ([email protected]) The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Information derived from it should be quoted or cited as follows. Holts, K. (2017) Management of the Self in Virtual Work: Self-Organisation and Control among Professional Online Poker Players. Unpublished dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire. Hertfordshire Business School. Abstract This study is set in the broad context of the changing world of work that is characterised by the dissolution of full-time stable employment and the emergence of precarious, insecure forms of work (see e.g. Gorz, 1999, Hardt and Negri, 2005, Huws, 2016, Lorey, 2015, Ross, 2003, Ross, 2009, Smith, 2001, Standing, 2011). As a response to these labour market uncertainties a growing number of individuals are managing multiple areas of the self as part of their work or occupation. This trend has been termed 'the new worker-subjectivity' or 'the entrepreneurial self' that is formed through practices of self-management (Bührmann, 2005, Lorey, 2009). Despite increasing awareness of the emergence of the entrepreneurial worker-subjectivity, research into practices of self- management has only focused on occupational groups in formal work. Knowledge about the trend in the context of virtual workers who operate outside of conventional working relations and have no publicly recognised work identity is largely missing. In order to address this gap, this study explores how entrepreneurial worker- subjectivities manifest in professional online poker players as an emerging online occupation. It investigates how these workers manage themselves in the absence of formal organisational control and socially recognised occupational norms, and asks what are the effects of this self-management on the quality of their working lives? The study is based on 39 in-depth interviews with people involved in online poker or other similar activities such as online gaming or trading. The interviews were conducted either face-to-face in Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania and UK or over Skype between December 2012 and May 2014. The study develops an analytical framework for researching entrepreneurial worker-subjectivities in the context of an emerging occupation and a three-stage- model of the trajectory that provides a basis for exploring the career paths of professional online poker players. Using these framework, the study finds that professional online poker players manage various areas of the self by following i informal occupational rules and that their sense of professionalism is largely derived from various practices of self-management that help them distinguish from recreational players. The study also discovers conflicting relations of autonomy and control among the workers and a range of negative effects that self-management practices have on professional online poker players. It concludes that professional online poker is not a sustainable long-term career option. These findings contribute to a better understanding of virtual work, the emergence of online poker playing as a form of work and the development of the entrepreneurial worker-subjectivity. ii Declaration of Authorship I, Kaire Holts, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Portions of this work were first presented in shorter form in: • Holts, K. & Surugiu, R. (2016) 'It is on the Cards: Emerging Employment Relationships in Online Poker'. In: RANDLE, K. & WEBSTER, J. (eds.) Virtual Workers and the Global Labour Market. (2016). London: Palgrave Macmillan. • Holts, K. (2013) 'Towards a Taxonomy of Virtual Work'. Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 7 (1) pp. 31-50. Passages of the first publication are reprinted here with the permission of the co- author Dr Romina Surugiu. Signed: _____________________________ Date: _______________________________ iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank many of my colleagues and friends who have played a part in this journey. First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisors, Professor Ursula Huws and Professor Keith Randle who provided wisdom, and perspective on this complex subject matter. You have not only guided me but also made this journey an enjoyable and a fun experience. Thanks to Ursula for always being available for guidance and advice. There are no words to thank you for all the support you have given me in all these years. Thanks also for widening my horizon and introducing me to many international scholars in the field. Thanks to Keith for all the discussions, encouragement and support you have given me over the years. You have been an incredible source of inspiration to me. Thank you to all my colleagues and friends at University of Hertfordshire, especially to Simon Joyce, Will Atkinson, Luke Stobart, Rafia Faiz, Muhammad Hijazy, for friendships, inspiration and support. I would also like to thank Hulya Dagdeviren and Jane Hardy for their advice and guidance. Special thanks to the administration at University of Hertfordshire, especially to Angela Digby for her patience and very professional assistance in all these years, and to Roman Pawluk for always providing me with prompt and professional assistance with technical matters. I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to the University of Hertfordshire for funding this research and to the Santander Universities Network for funding the field work. Thinking of my international colleagues, I am grateful to Professor Nick Dyer- Witheford and Dr Christoph Hermann for early discussions that helped define the research focus. I am also grateful for being part of the COST Action on the Dynamics of Virtual Work and for all the memorable meetings, knowledge exchange and friendships. I would particularly like to thank Eran Fisher, Juliet Webster, Anna Borg and Christian Fuchs for discussions, encouragement and inspiration throughout the course of my PhD. Special thanks to Romina Surugiu iv for allowing me to use parts of our publication in this thesis, and for your hospitality and assistance during my field trip to Romania. I would not have chosen this path without the inspirational discussions with Professor Tarcísio Della Senta, Professor Tim Unwin and my former colleague and friend Dr Nabeel Goheer. Special thanks to Nabeel for all the moral support and exchange of ideas throughout the project. I would also like to thank my former colleagues at the International Labour Organization, particularly Graeme Buckley, David Lamotte and Martin Clemensson and my former supervisor Professor Wolfgang König at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen for giving me the confidence to embark on this academic journey. I would like to thank all the people who I interviewed for this study. Thanks for your time and sharing your experiences with me. Thanks to Zlatina Rankova for assistance in Bulgaria. Thanks to Raluca Petre and Indrek Ojam for helping me with transcriptions. I should also not forget to mention all the friendly people working at many libraries I have been using extensively throughout my thesis: University of Hertfordshire LRCs, UAL Camberwell library, UAL LCC library, British Library, Tallinn University Academic Library and Treimani Raamatukogu. Special thanks to Evi Laarents for letting me use my favourite library at any time of the day. Thanks to Jeremy, the friendliest support person at the British Library, for helping search through an impressive number of databases. And at the personal level, I would like to thank my many friends and family, particularly Michaela, Franziska, Catherine, Jeff, Manuela, Caitlin, Ugo, Frank, Rachel, Sten, Bettina, Mika, Frank, Anja, Jule, Triin, Tanja, Margus, Valja for checking in on me, moral support, patience and helping me keep up the spirit in all these years. I would also like to thank Mark Graham for bringing me to London and 'throwing' me on this path of life. Special thanks goes to my mum. I cannot express the immense gratitude for all the care and support you have given me. I am also indebted to Merily, Monika, Anne, Kristiina, Jane, Gloria and Armelle for all the care and looking after Charlotte when I was working. And a very special thanks goes to Hadley. I could not have done the journey without your help and v care. And my biggest thanks goes to my little daughter Charlotte. Thanks for your patience, smiles, never-ending curiosity and unconditional love. And the list would not be complete if I did not thank all the great people working at BrewBird, Fowlds cafe, Lumberjack, Candid cafe, No67, NOP, Caffeine and BJÖRN Espresso bar for making my days full of writing and thinking nicer by providing me with cakes and hot drinks throughout the lifetime of this project. vi To Charlotte who was born in the midst of this thesis... Table of Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. I DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP .............................................................................. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................... XII LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... XIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Context and focus of the study ........................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Structure of the thesis ........................................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 7 CHAPTER 2: SETTING THE SCENE ........................................................................... 8 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 8 2.2 What is virtual work? ............................................................................................................................ 8 2.3 Professional online poker players ................................................................................................. 13 2.4 The prevalence of professional online poker playing ............................................................. 14 2.5 Poker playing as a work activity .................................................................................................... 17 2.6 What is 'work'...? .................................................................................................................................. 19 2.7 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER 3: THE MANAGED SELF: AN ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK ........................ 23 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 23 3.2 The entrepreneurial project of the self ........................................................................................ 23 3.3 Self-management and self-control - what is being managed and how? ............................ 27 3.3.1 Body-work-practices on the self .............................................................................................................. 27 3.3.2 Career self-management .............................................................................................................................. 29 viii