Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy
 |
| Anteprima |
The
crowdsourcing of work - the "gig economy" - has been hailed as a
"sharing" revolution, enabling "micro-entrepreneurs" to enjoy greater
autonomy and flexibility in taking on "gigs", "rides", or "tasks", while
customers benefit from the ease, convenience, and affordability of
"work ondemand". Is this the future of work? What are the benefits and
challenges of crowdsourced work? Is the gig economy fundamentally
different to existing models of work and should it be kept outside the
scope of employment law, as many platforms claim?Humans as a Service
offers an engaging and critical account of the gig economy. It charts
the industry's dramatic growth, explores the diverse platforms that
comprise it, and describes how they operate. In scrutinising the
competing narratives about "gig" work, the book demonstrates the
importanceof language: how claims of "disruptive innovation" and
"micro-entrepreneurship" often obscure the realities of highly
precarious work and the strict algorithmic surveillance and control to
which workers are subject. And yet, far from being radically new, the
book shows that the gig economy is butthe latest (and perhaps most
extreme) example of labour market practices that have existed for
centuries. Turning to how the law should respond to the on-demand
economy, it argues that regulators can and must bring this work within
the scope of employment law, adapting existing norms wherenecessary, in
order to protect both customers and workers. Finally, it explores the
wider implications of the gig economy for markets and consumers,
assessing oppprtunities and challenges - if this is the future of work,
how can it be made sustainable?
