Dr. Aulia Nastiti Successfully Defends Groundbreaking Dissertation on Platform Capitalism in Indonesia
Dr. Aulia Nastiti has successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, titled "Behind the Digital Boom:Proprietary Market and Platform Capitalism Expansion in Indonesia," marking a significant personal and academic achievement. Her work offers critical insights into how digital platforms shape economic structures, particularly in Indonesia.
Dr. Nastiti’s research explores how major digital platform firms like Gojek and Grab influence markets, labor conditions, and economic power structures. Her dissertation introduces the concept of the “proprietary market” to explain how these firms not only participate in markets but actively shape and control them. By structuring the flow of goods, services, and information through privately controlled digital ecosystems, platforms consolidate power in ways that impact labor and regulatory environments.
Dr. James Mahoney, a Professor of Political Science who sat on Dr. Nastiti’s dissertation committee, praised her work, stating, "Dr. Nastiti’s dissertation is a groundbreaking contribution to the study of platform capitalism and market transformation. Her concept of proprietary market offers a powerful new lens for understanding how digital platforms, once adopted, can become locked-in place through path-dependent processes. This theoretically innovative and rigorous empirical analysis sets a major new research agenda for the study of digital economies in the Global South."
Dr. Jeffrey Winters, Director of the Equality Development and Globalization Studies (EDGS) program and a fellow committee member highlighted the significance of Dr. Nastiti’s research in the field of labor and digital economies. "Aulia’s dissertation gives us an important window on the enormous power of platforms like transportation apps to control conditions for gig workers,” Winters noted. “It’s a study comparativists outside Indonesia will be eager to read when it appears as a book."
Reflecting on her journey, Dr. Nastiti shared the personal challenges she faced while completing her dissertation. "Writing a dissertation is incredibly hard. At times, it felt like an insurmountable task, especially when I became a new parent right after finishing my fieldwork. It is a perpetual struggle for me to juggle dissertation with childrearing, and the so-called work-family balance always remains elusive. The journey was often lonely and felt never-ending, but with the unwavering company of my little family, the incredible patience and guidance of my committee, and the welfare support from both Arryman and Northwestern, I have been able to keep both my dissertation and my child literally growing—which at the end made the process much more meaningful and fulfilling. I want to dedicate this journey to all mother-scholars out there: your perseverance is remarkable."
Dr. Nastiti’s successful defense not only marks a major milestone in her academic career but also stands as an inspiration to scholars navigating the challenges of balancing research and personal commitments. Her work has broad implications for policymakers, labor advocates, and scholars concerned with the evolving power structures of the digital age. As digital platforms continue to shape economic landscapes worldwide, her research provides a critical lens through which to examine their socio-economic consequences.