Work and wages in the gig economy: Can there be a High Road?

Abstract

The gig economy is a flashpoint in many contemporary debates about the future of work. Platforms’ reliance on contract workers is controversial and has prompted numerous legal challenges. To date, however, there is no definitive ruling about gig workers’ employment status, and many of these workers continue to face ongoing risks due to low pay, precarity, and other vulnerabilities in the gig economy. In this chapter, we attempt to move beyond the unsettled issue of gig workers’ employment status, without denying its economic and moral importance. We discuss three additional promising – but less prominent – routes to improving gig work conditions: worker activism, ethical consumption, and fav..