Justice, Dignity, and Reward: Nurturing Relationships in the Gig Economy

Abstract

Justice, Dignity, and Reward: Nurturing Relationships in the Gig Economy Calum Samuelson1 Introduction The Bible has a great deal to say about workers and work, but, due to considerable cultural and economic differences, it can be difficult to apply biblical wisdom to the complex landscape of modern work. The gig economy in particular presents many opportunities and obstacles to modern workers and employers, but its novel and evolving characteristics greatly complicate responses built upon comprehensive data. Thus, whilst acknowledging the importance of insights from fields such as law and economics, this essay takes a biblical approach in order to consider some of the underlying theological factors at play within the gig economy. By doing this, it is hoped that both workers and employers will be better equipped to parse and distinguish between the purported and actual advantages of the gig economy. Workers in the Bible can be divided into three basic groups: 1) professionals, the self-employed and those who owned property, 2) permanent workers (mainly relatives and servants)2 , 3) temporary workers (such as the disenfranchised and foreigners).3 This hierarchy of workers fundamentally created relationships of unequal power. Masters who owned land had more power and discretion than the permanent servants in their households, and both of these had more power than the temporary workers who often lacked both material resources and social capital (perhaps because of misfortune or disaster).4 The biblical corpus implicitly recognises that some asymmetry is inevitable in relationships between human beings and, on that basis, provides guidance for acceptable behaviour in whatever socio-economic position people may find themselves. Thus, all workers are endowed with some measure of positional power, and nowhere in Scripture are the obligations of this endowment made clearer than in the domestic codes given by Paul in the New Testament.5 Paul’s exhortation to both masters and servants to treat each other ‘in the same way’6 due to their shared status as ‘servants of Christ’7 was truly revolutionary in the time of the early Church. Studies • volume 108 • number 432 432 Calum Samuelson Positional power is, of course, closely related to the idea of agency. The Book of Judges 6:15 illustrates a five-fold hierarchy of agency: ‘But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family’.8 This single verse conveys agency at the national level (Israel), tribal level (Manasseh), clan level, family level and the individual level (Gideon himself). Each level was respected and responsible for actions and behaviour within that level. This means that Israel was responsible for things as a nation that Gideon was not necessarily responsible for; Gideon could not be a ‘light to the nations’ by himself. Crucially, the divisions of positional power exist within and across the hierarchies of agency (the role of chief always entails high positional power, but the individual who relinquishes that position does not). The biblical hierarchy of agency is shifted in the New Testament, but still articulates a stratified vision involving the Church, geographic assemblies of the Church (ekklesia),9 ethnic groups,10 families11 and households,12 and individuals. Jesus teaches about bearing fruit at the individual level, but there is also the fuller and mysterious sense in which groups of people can bear fruit collectively; the Spirit of God who produces the fruit does not dwell in isolated individuals but rather in assemblies of God’s people.13 This means that separate agents can become a single agent together in Christ even though their positional powers are different; the master and the servant are both essential members of the Body of Christ! These truths have significant implications for work in general and for the gig economy in particular. An increasing number of participants in the gig economy are temporary workers who are kept at arm’s length from the company for which they work. Giggers occupy roles of low positional power that must be mediated by large, international platforms such as Upwork. However, it is precisely in this context that many giggers hope to obtain or initially feel an increased sense of their agency as individuals. For Christians today, freelancers...