Worker exploitation in the Australian gig economy: emerging mechanisms of social control

Abstract

ABSTRACT Through the case study of Gupta in the food delivery sector, this article argues that the gig economy has further increased the potential for worker exploitation in neoliberal capitalist global markets. Adopting a state-corporate criminology theoretical lens, the article addresses the harmful impact on gig workers, stating that incidents like the Gupta case constitute market-generated social harms. The proposed argument contributes to the existing literature on the gig economy by highlighting that any potential legal reforms would also require a review of the capitalist market, within which new forms of economy such as this one generate ongoing precariousness and vulnerability.