The unfulfilled promise of gig work

Abstract

This chapter examines how the category of gig work highlights new forms of labour relations while also embodying the long-standing and dominant forms of labour relations in India and, more broadly, South Asia. Gig work, particularly crowdwork can provide a compelling and exciting pathway to alleviate the shortcomings of the Indian labour market. However, it argues, that absent clear interventions from the state to mitigate the precarious nature of gig work and strengthen the bargaining power of workers, the promise of gig work will remain unfulfilled. The chapter explores the emerging contestations around rights posed by gig workers and the ways in which gig worker organising can build on the long history of informal worker organising in India. In economies with high levels of informality, gig work poses the risk of institutionalising in the formal sector the insecurity of the informal sector.