The Gig Economy: WTF? Precarity and Work under Neoliberalism | Tom Nicholas

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Unlike most developments in the employment market, the Gig Economy has received a great deal of press attention and established itself firmly as a point of reference in the popular consciousness. In recent years, increasing numbers of people have turned to services such as Uber, Lyft, Deliveroo, Just Eat, TaskRabbit and Fiverr as either a side hustle or their main source of income.

Following on from my video on neoliberalism and neoliberal capitalism, in today's episode of What the Theory?, we look deeper into how the gig economy (or sharing economy) works and what differentiates it from the rest of the economy. We ask whether the gig economy is truly an opportunity for those wanting a more flexible work arrangement or whether it is simply a means for multinational corporations to circumvent hard-won workers rights and labour laws.

Finally, we also consider whether there might be some historical precedents to the sharing economy in the early industrial period and look at some of the challenges facing those attempting to organise Deliveroo riders, Uber drivers and other gig economy workers into trade unions in order to negotiate for better rates of pay and conditions.

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Further Reading

Riding for Deliveroo: Resistance in the New Economy by Callum Cant
US: https://amzn.to/2F1MKGb
UK: https://amzn.to/2SCR1aZ

Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy by Jeremias Prassl
US: https://amzn.to/2rDIjhx
UK: https://amzn.to/2SABp7M

Hustle and Gig by Alexandrea J Ravenelle
US: https://amzn.to/359evHo
UK: https://amzn.to/2sAxw8e

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Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

Następny odcinek

S04E01 - Little Women (2019): How (and why) Greta Gerwig changed the ending | Tom Nicholas