Labour process theory and the gig economy
2018/09/18 by Alessandro Gandini · 886 citations
Engineering · Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Capitalism #Commodity #Computer science #Context (archaeology) #Digital Economy and Work Transformation #Digital economy #Economics #Economy #Employment and Welfare Studies #Engineering #Gig economy #Industrial sociology #Labor Movements and Unions #Law #Market economy #Marxist philosophy #Microeconomics #Neoclassical economics #Political science #Politics #Process (computing) #Production (economics) #Service economy #Set (abstract data type) #Sociology #Work (physics)
paper · open access · doi:10.1177/0018726718790002
published in Human Relations 72(6), 1039-1056 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2018/09/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
What are the distinctive traits that characterize work(ing) through (and for) a digital platform? In the burgeoning debate on the ‘gig economy’, a critical examination that comprehensively addresses this issue beyond specific examples or case studies is currently missing. This article uses labour process theory – an important Marxist approach in the study of relations of production in industrial capitalism – to address this gap. Supported by empirical illustrations from existing research, the article discusses the notions of ‘point of production’, emotional labour and control in the gig economy to argue that labour process theory offers a unique set of tools to expand our understanding of the way in which labour power comes to be transformed into a commodity in a context where the encounter between supply and demand of work is mediated by a digital platform, and where feedback, ranking and rating systems serve purposes of managerialization and monitoring of workers.
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