Early Access: The Gig Economy: WTF? (Patreon)

The Gig Economy: WTF? Neoliberalism, Precarity and Employment in the Sharing Economy

Unlike most developments in the employment market, the Gig Economy has received a great deal of press attention and established itself firmly as a point of reference in the popular consciousness. In recent years, increasing numbers of people have turned to services such as Uber, Lyft, Deliveroo, Just Eat, TaskRabbit and Fiverr as either a side hustle or their main source of income. Following on from my video on neoliberalism and neoliberal capitalism, in today's episode of What the Theory?, we look deeper into how the gig economy (or sharing economy) works and what differentiates it from the rest of the economy. We ask whether the gig economy is truly an opportunity for those wanting a more flexible work arrangement or whether it is simply a means for multinational corporations to circumvent hard-won workers rights and labour laws. Finally, we also consider whether there might be some historical precedents to the sharing economy in the early industrial period and look at some of the challenges facing those attempting to organise Deliveroo riders, Uber drivers and other gig economy workers into trade unions in order to negotiate for better rates of pay and conditions. If you'd like to support my channel then please do check out my Patreon page at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas Further Reading Riding for Deliveroo: Resistance in the New Economy by Callum Cant US: https://amzn.to/2F1MKGb UK: https://amzn.to/2SCR1aZ Humans as a Service: The Promise and Perils of Work in the Gig Economy by Jeremias Prassl US: https://amzn.to/2rDIjhx UK: https://amzn.to/2SABp7M Hustle and Gig by Alexandrea J Ravenelle US: https://amzn.to/359evHo UK: https://amzn.to/2sAxw8e [The above are affiliate links. I receive a small kickback from anything you buy which, in turn, helps to support the channel.] If you've enjoyed this video and would like to see more including my What The Theory? series in which I provide some snappy introductions to key theories in the humanities as well as video essays and more then do consider subscribing. Thanks for watching! Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas Website: www.tomnicholas.com