Thesis
Title: Workplace Selves, Interactive Service Work and Outsourcing: Labour in Kenya’s call centres (2015)
Supervisor: Professor Robin Mansell
Profile
Dr Alex Free completed his PhD in the Department of Media and Communications at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ in 2015, under the supervision of Professor Robin Mansell.
His PhD was a study of the development of the call centre and outsourcing sector in Nairobi, Kenya. It explored the consequences for workers of the expansion of service sector-based communications labour in the international market, with a focus on worker wellbeing and the constitution of workplace power relations. The project drew on qualitative and quantitative methods and encompassed a period of eight months of fieldwork in Nairobi.
Since October 2015, Dr Free has been working as part of ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳'s EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Taskforce, which was set up to develop initiatives in support of improving the experiences of students and staff at the School.
Dr Free very much enjoys working with students to explore research ideas, to articulate areas of focus, and to develop insightful answers to research questions. He has taught on the department's MCLabs and Summer School courses, as well as supporting students with the development of research projects as a dissertation officer. Having completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCertHE) in 2015, he is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Selected Publications
- Free, A. (2015) Online Labour and Business Outsourcing. In: Ang, P.H. and R. Mansell (eds) International Encyclopaedia of Digital Communication and Society, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell:
- Free, A. (2014) ‘Development’, Profiles and Prospects: Labour in Kenya's outsourced call centres’. Critical African Studies, DOI: 10.1080/21681392.2014.901877: