Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Freedom, Flexibility, Precarity, and Vulnerability in the Gig Economy in Africa

Competition and Change, Special Issue on Digitalisation and Labour in the Global Economy, Forthcoming

20 Pages Posted: 11 Mar 2020

See all articles by Mohammad Amir Anwar

Mohammad Amir Anwar

Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh; Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford; School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

Mark Graham

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute

Date Written: January 19, 2020

Abstract

The world of work is changing. Communications technologies and digital platforms have enabled some types of work to be delivered from anywhere in the world by anyone with a computer and an internet connection. This digitally-mediated work brings jobs to parts of the world traditionally characterised by low incomes and high unemployment rates. As such, it has been touted by governments, third-sector organisations, and the private sector as a novel strategy for economic development. Drawing on a four- year study with sixty-five workers in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, we examine the development implications of the gig economy on labour in Africa. We offer four analytical development dimensions through which platform-based remote work contributes to the lives and livelihoods of African workers i.e. freedom, flexibility, precarity and vulnerablity. We argue that these dimensions should be understood in a continuum to better explain the working conditions and lives of workers in the gig economy.

Keywords: Gig Economy; Freedom, Flexibility, Precarity, Vulnerabilit, Job Quality, Africa

JEL Classification: O14, O32, O55, J23, J22, J24, J28, J31, J33, J46, J53, J61, J62, J64, J81, J82, J83

Suggested Citation

Anwar, Mohammad Amir and Graham, Mark, Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Freedom, Flexibility, Precarity, and Vulnerability in the Gig Economy in Africa (January 19, 2020). Competition and Change, Special Issue on Digitalisation and Labour in the Global Economy, Forthcoming , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3536493

Mohammad Amir Anwar (Contact Author)

Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh ( email )

Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9JY
United Kingdom

Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

PO Box 524
Auckland Park
Johannesburg, Gauteng 2006
South Africa

Mark Graham

University of Oxford - Oxford Internet Institute ( email )

1 St. Giles
University of Oxford
Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 3JS
United Kingdom

HOME PAGE: http://www.geospace.co.uk

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