Gig Economy
«Since 2008 there have been many claims about an economic upturn or the beginnings of hopeful economic growth. However, as Paul Mason (2016) has argued, the years following have been a jobless recovery. Rather than the creation of new jobs and the sharing of the benefits of economic growth, there has been an increase in lowpaid and insecure work. This has been facilitated by the rolling back of employment protections. There have also been aggressive changes to the welfare state including labour market activation policies that are forcing workers into low-paid work, often subsidized by the state. Alongside these policies, some countries are actively encouraging the gig economy as a potential source of economic prosperity and progress. South Korea, for instance, is investing public money in platforms in the hope that they will ultimately contribute to economic growth. Kenya, likewise, is rushing to sign up people to its Ajira Digital programme: a scheme that intends to turn up to a million young Kenyans into platform workers as a way of tackling the youth unemployment crisis in the country.
The gig economy, particularly in the case of ‘lean platforms’, is successfully taking advantage of this context, which ‘ultimately appears as an outlet for surplus capital in an era of ultra-low interest rates and dire investment opportunities rather than the vanguard destined to revive capitalism’ (Srnicek, 2017: 91). The glut of money made by companies in the technology industry is increasingly being held outside of the home country of the firm, not brought back for fear of taxation and without anywhere profitable to invest. This is a continuation of the crisis of profitability referred to before, but under increased pressure as there is a vast amount of money needing to be spent on something. In essence, those with large amounts of capital were finding that their money was not growing in traditional bank savings or investments, and so they looked for avenues to invest. The fledgling gig economy became the perfect outlet for this through the growth of venture capital. In this way, the development of technology then feeds back into the gig economy as investment, as well as providing the tools upon which it is being built.»
«Platforms are not going away; we will continue to have on-demand taxis and app-based food delivery, and people will continue to innovate whether or not the workers who make it all possible have decent jobs (and, indeed, we have to ask ourselves if we want those innovations if the only way to bring them into being is on the back of indecent work). We therefore all need to look to local, regional and national political parties and politicians who stand for decent jobs and who stand up for the rights of workers. We need to vote for them, campaign for them, support them, write to them and hold them to account.
The gig economy is the battleground in a set of conflicts being waged that will determine the futures of work. You may think that your own job is safe from some of the changes described in this book, but the processes that define the gig economy could come to transform almost every type of work. The balance sheet thus far is deeply worrying, and should be a cause of concern for workers the world over. And it will continue to be a concern unless we find ways of taking what we already know about how the gig economy works and who it works for, to collectively build a more equitable and fairer future of work.»
Thunder blossoms gorgeously above our heads,
Great, hollow, bell-like flowers,
Rumbling in the wind,
Stretching clappers to strike our ears . . .
Full-lipped flowers
Bitten by the sun
Bleeding rain
Dripping rain like golden honey—
And the sweet earth flying from the thunder.
Storm Ending
Black reapers with the sound of steel on stones
Are sharpening scythes. I see them place the hones
In their hip-pockets as a thing that’s done,
And start their silent swinging, one by one.
Black horses drive a mower through the weeds,
And there, a field rat, startled, squealing bleeds.
His belly close to ground. I see the blade,
Blood-stained, continue cutting weeds and shade.
Reapers
Pour O pour that parting soul in song,
O pour it in the sawdust glow of night,
Into the velvet pine-smoke air tonight,
And let the valley carry it along.
And let the valley carry it along.
O land and soil, red soil and sweet-gum tree,
So scant of grass, so profligate of pines,
Now just before an epoch’s sun declines
Thy son, in time, I have returned to thee.
Thy son, I have in time returned to thee.
In time, for though the sun is setting on
A song-lit race of slaves, it has not set;
Though late, O soil, it is not too late yet
To catch thy plaintive soul, leaving, soon gone,
Leaving, to catch thy plaintive soul soon gone.
O Negro slaves, dark purple ripened plums,
Squeezed, and bursting in the pine-wood air,
Passing, before they stripped the old tree bare
One plum was saved for me, one seed becomes
An everlasting song, a singing tree,
Caroling softly souls of slavery,
What they were, and what they are to me,
Caroling softly souls of slavery.
Song of the Son
Come, brother, come. Lets lift it;
Come now, hewit! roll away!
Shackles fall upon the Judgment Day
But lets not wait for it.
God’s body’s got a soul,
Bodies like to roll the soul,
Cant blame God if we dont roll,
Come, brother, roll, roll!
Cotton bales are the fleecy way
Weary sinner’s bare feet trod,
Softly, softly to the throne of God,
“We aint agwine t wait until th Judgment Day!
Nassur; nassur,
Hump.
Eoho, eoho, roll away!
We aint agwine t wait until th Judgment Day!”
God’s body’s got a soul,
Bodies like to roll the soul,
Cant blame God if we dont roll,
Come, brother, roll, roll!
Cotton Song in Cane (1923)
(December 26, 1894 – March 30, 1967)
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