Abstract

Abstract Commercial platforms were once lauded as a facet of the sustainable ‘sharing economy’. Today, the short-termism associated with ‘gig work’ is widely condemned as an obstacle to sustainable development. This article begins by examining what is meant by ‘sustainability’, including how we might interpret and apply the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations and endorsed by the International Labour Organization. The second substantive part of the article analyses contemporary practices associated with intermittent and insecure platform work which have been identified globally, with reference to longer term and inter-related economic, environmental and social effects. The third part reflects on how appreciation of these effects could shape a future reform agenda oriented towards sustainable development. It is argued that recognition of the desirability of sustainability could enhance the case for holistic legal reform, promoting collective solidarity and action across geographical and temporal borders, while traversing doctrinal boundaries, to make gig work (as we now know it) a thing of the past.

Highlights

  • Contemporary digital ‘gig work’, spurred on by the financial crisis and more recently the coronavirus pandemic, has become a transnationalGig work–Crafting a Sustainable Regulatory Agenda business model,[1] which utilises technological advances to enable the flexible hire of ‘on demand’ task-based labour through digital means

  • This article begins by examining what is meant by ‘sustainability’, including how we might interpret and apply the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations and endorsed by the International Labour Organization

  • It is argued that recognition of the desirability of sustainability could enhance the case for holistic legal reform, promoting collective solidarity and action across geographical and temporal borders, while traversing doctrinal boundaries, to make gig work a thing of the past

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Contemporary digital ‘gig work’, spurred on by the financial crisis and more recently the coronavirus pandemic, has become a transnational. Https://www.ifi.uzh.ch/dam/ jcr:4abc7924-4c3f-4bf3-9302-ba6abaae01f0/2020_Pouri_Hilty_Relevance_of_Digital_Sharing_ Busiess_Models_for_Sustainability.pdf (last date accessed 24 September 2021). I proceed to examine harms associated with the short (and long) term economic gains sought by platforms through utilising gig work, with reference to various longer term effects in economic, social and environmental spheres, as well as associated SDGs. It becomes evident that there are manifold reasons to regulate work in the platform economy, which could provide the foundation for the political will to do so.[21] I conclude by proposing a multi-faceted regulatory strategy, operating at global, national and local levels. Dukes, ‘Regulating Gigs’ (2020) 83(1) Modern Law Review 217, 228

THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF ‘SUSTAINABLEWORK’
The Political Compromise Manifested in the SDGs
SHORT-TERM ‘GIG’WORK AND ITS EFFECTS ON SUSTAINABILITY
Economic Effects
Social Effects
Environmental Effects
REGULATORY PRESCRIPTIONS FROM A SUSTAINABILITY PERSPECTIVE
The Level of Regulatory Intervention—Geographical andTemporal Solidarity
Findings
Traversing Disciplinary Boundaries—A HolisticTransformational Approach
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