NAOMI VEENHOVEN

PhD Student

Research Title: The "KPI-Ification" Of Labour: Data-Mediated Management Practices in Airport Operations
Research Group: Social Cultural Geographies (SCG)
Thesis Advisor: Assoc Prof Lin Weiqiang

I hold a BA in Cultural and Social Anthropology, followed by a Research Masters in Social Sciences, at the University of Amsterdam. During my Master’s I conducted research in the field of delivery logistics, specifically exploring the lived-experiences of operational workers in various parts of semi-automated delivery chains in the Netherlands. Besides my love for writing, I often experiment with creative methods of presenting academic findings, such as multi-modal installations and (animated) illustrations.

In my doctoral thesis, I plan to examine the implications of digitisation processes and automation on airport labour. My primary focus will be on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), a set of measures that has become omnipresent in the corporate world as a way to track the progress and success of the company at large, by formulating indicators in every fragment of the business operation. In this ethnographic research, I intend to theorize and analytically assess both the present and possible futures of labour at airports.

Publications:

Veenhoven, N. I. (2022). Managed by Data: The Datafication of Performance in Logistics Labour. Etnofoor, 34(1), 88–104. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27155877
Veenhoven, N.I. (2022). How to read logistical traces. Roadsides, 7, 59-64. https://doi.org/10.26034/roadsides-202200709
Baas, S., van Hooff, L., Koopman, W., Lopez, A. M., McBrien, J., & Veenhoven, N. (2020). On Futures: Multi-Modal Reflections on Studying the Anthropology of the Future. Etnofoor, 32(1), 123–138. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26924854

Relevant multimedia project

Veenhoven, N. & Harris, T. (2021) “Chasing Seconds,” Logistics in the Time of Covid, 26 April, 2021. https://www.fieldguidetologistics.com/post/chasing-seconds