Digital Platform Power and Social Development in the Global South: A Systematic Literature Review

Amalia Susilowati

doi:10.58421/misro.v5i3.2054

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58421/misro.v5i3.2054

Authors

Amalia Susilowati Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta

Keywords:

Digital platform power, Social development, Algorithmic governance, Global South, Political economy, ICT4D, Welfare governance

Abstract

Background: Digital platforms increasingly mediate welfare, services, finance, labour, and entrepreneurship, while research on platform power remains fragmented and Global-North dominated. Gap: Platform political economy, algorithmic governance, data extraction, and inclusion are rarely integrated with development theory or Global South evidence. Objective: This study maps these gaps and develops a structural synthesis. Method: An interpretive systematic review of 30 Scopus-retrieved scholarly publications (journal articles and scholarly books/book chapters) published in 2010–2025 used PRISMA reporting and thematic–geographic coding. Results: Algorithmic governance dominated (18; 60%); resistance (9; 30%), infrastructure (8; 27%), and data colonialism/digital sovereignty (7; 23%) followed. Five studies (17%) engaged development theory; four (13%) focused directly on the Global South. Conclusion: The review develops a four-dimensional typology rather than a validated causal model. Implications: The framework extends dependency, developmental-state, and capability perspectives and guides future empirical testing.

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