Gig economy: Difference between revisions
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'''''Gig economy''''' is a euphemism intended to legitimize a system of pseudo-employment whereby [[Proletariat|proletarians]] are informally contracted to perform tasks on a piecemeal basis, usually via a [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] app controlled by the contracting company. Gig work has grown to take up an ever larger proportion of the overall employment landscape, with many fields previously worked by full employees with rights and protections now being '[[Uber|Uberized]]'.<ref name=":0">Vallas, Steven and Schor, Juliet B. 2020. [https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-121919-054857 ''What Do Platforms Do? Understanding the Gig Economy'']. pp. 273-294. ''Annual Reviews.''</ref> | '''''Gig economy''''' is a euphemism intended to legitimize a system of pseudo-employment whereby [[Proletariat|proletarians]] are informally contracted to perform tasks on a piecemeal basis, usually via a [[Proprietary software|proprietary]] app controlled by the contracting company. Gig work has grown to take up an ever larger proportion of the overall employment landscape, with many fields previously worked by full employees with rights and protections now being '[[Uber|Uberized]]'.<ref name=":0">Vallas, Steven and Schor, Juliet B. 2020. [https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-soc-121919-054857 ''What Do Platforms Do? Understanding the Gig Economy'']. pp. 273-294. ''Annual Reviews.''</ref> | ||
The Gig | The Gig economy is part of a broader worrying trend in employment within modern [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] economies, alongside zero-hour contracts and the increasing use of temporary workers to do work that previously would be hired as a full employee with benefits and protections. | ||
==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
The term ''Gig'' derives from the sub-culture of semi-amateur music performances where performers are payed per show or ''gig''. In gig economy terms each task or job is a ''gig'' and therefore companies attempt to justify not being obliged to pay a fixed wage and benefits on the grounds that workers are paid on a per-job basis as 'freelancers' and therefore are not 'employees'.<ref>[[wikt:gig#English|"gig" English usage]] ''Wiktionary''</ref> | The term ''Gig'' derives from the sub-culture of semi-amateur music performances where performers are payed per show or ''gig''. In gig economy terms each task or job is a ''gig'' and therefore companies attempt to justify not being obliged to pay a fixed wage and benefits on the grounds that workers are paid on a per-job basis as 'freelancers' and therefore are not 'employees'.<ref>[[wikt:gig#English|"gig" English usage]] ''Wiktionary''</ref> | ||
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"Why Is Everything Turning Into Uber?" by Second Thought |
Gig economy is a euphemism intended to legitimize a system of pseudo-employment whereby proletarians are informally contracted to perform tasks on a piecemeal basis, usually via a proprietary app controlled by the contracting company. Gig work has grown to take up an ever larger proportion of the overall employment landscape, with many fields previously worked by full employees with rights and protections now being 'Uberized'.[1]
The Gig economy is part of a broader worrying trend in employment within modern neoliberal economies, alongside zero-hour contracts and the increasing use of temporary workers to do work that previously would be hired as a full employee with benefits and protections.
Etymology
The term Gig derives from the sub-culture of semi-amateur music performances where performers are payed per show or gig. In gig economy terms each task or job is a gig and therefore companies attempt to justify not being obliged to pay a fixed wage and benefits on the grounds that workers are paid on a per-job basis as 'freelancers' and therefore are not 'employees'.[2]
Ideological justification
Arguments by apologists in favor of gig work are usually grounded in petite-bourgeois ideology, especially individualism. Arguments include 'being your own boss,' increased 'workplace flexibility,' 'upward mobility' and the prospect of somehow entering the bourgeois class, etc.[3]
In reality, these arguments usually mean that workers are able to be forced to work for pay, hours, and workplace conditions that would be illegal if they were a 'conventional' employee. Operators often emphasize that workers have the ability to refuse jobs, implying worker agency, but in practice on many platforms doing this will result in a kind of de-prioritization or other punishments by which it becomes harder to get offered future jobs.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Vallas, Steven and Schor, Juliet B. 2020. What Do Platforms Do? Understanding the Gig Economy. pp. 273-294. Annual Reviews.
- ↑ "gig" English usage Wiktionary
- ↑ Moti Benti. (December 4 2018). Ride-Sharing and Neoliberalism: Uber’s Exploitation of Immigrant Taxi Drivers. Columbia Political Review. Archived from the original.