Careers Delivered from the Kitchen? Immigrant Women Small-scale Entrepreneurs Working in the Growing Nordic Platform Economy

Abstract

ABSTRACT In Sweden, several trends intersect: the gig economy is growing rapidly; immigrants find it challenging to find work; and integration policies increasingly focus on the role of the first job as a benchmark for integration. This empirical study inserts an intersectional perspective into the exploration of the gig economy by examining immigrant women’s daily working experiences within a transactional gig platform, “Yummy”. This food app links home-based chefs to public consumers through online ordering systems. Through in-depth interviews with chefs, the app management team and participatory observations at firm training sessions and food festivals, we explore the complexity of gendered and racialized precarious work from inside the gig economy to consider daily gig life from a feminist economics perspective. The study shows the gig economy does provide entrepreneurial opportunities for new immigrants with these being based on gendered norms. We demonstrate how gendered narratives of idle capacities and women’s work in the home and family spheres are marketized and transformed through the platform. Our study widens the scope of understanding the gig economy by positioning gig work as part of broader social relations between a company, the workers and gender norms.