The Gig Economy

Alex de Ruyter

ISBN 10: 1788210042 / ISBN 13: 9781788210041

Published by Edinburgh University Press Jun 2019, 2019

About this Item

Neuware - Alex de Ruyter and Martyn Brown explain the key facets of the gig economy and explore the dangers and potential it affords. Drawing on recent case-studies from the UK, Europe and the USA, it offers an authoritative guide through the theories and issues that surround the gig economy and the ramifications of an increasingly insecure workforce.

Seller Inventory # 9781788210041

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Gig Economy
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press Jun 2019
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1788210042
• ISBN 13: 9781788210041
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 216W x 153H x 15D millimeters 216 millimeters width by 153 millimeters height by 15 millimeters depth
• Weight: 260 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The “gig economy” is a relatively recent term coined to describe a range of working arrangements that have previously been denoted as precarious, flexible and contingent. These may include casual workers, temporary agency workers, those on zero-hours contracts and dependent contractors.

This books seeks to get behind the contemporary buzz surrounding the term and provide some theoretical and empirical analysis of the gig work phenomenon. The book seeks to assess more critically some of the rhetorical claims made about gig work and to provide a balanced appraisal of the ramifications for individuals, employers and the economy and society in general of an increasingly insecure workforce. The regulatory framework, in particular, is examined and is shown to have lagged behind crucial developments in the gig economy, with many labour laws still historically rooted to the notion that a worker has to be an employee to be covered by employment rights.

The authors show that in many respects there is nothing new about the gig economy and that its growth in recent years was in some sense predictable. Perhaps its real significance, they argue, is its potential as a business model to “gig-ize” other business operations far beyond relatively low-skilled work. When combined with automation and digitalization, the gig economy presents us with an opportunity to re-evalute our understanding of the nature of work.

About the Authors

Alex De Ruyter is Professor and Director of the Centre for Brexit Studies at Birmingham City University. He has been involved in two ESRC-funded studies related to the phenomenon of flexible and contingent working, and completed his PhD on the uses of non-standard employees in Australian hospitals. His research in the area of flexible and precarious work has been published in European Journal of Industrial Relations, Work, Employment & Society, International Journal of Human Resource Management and British Journal of Industrial Relations.

Martyn Brown is Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies at Birmingham City University and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Birmingham. He originally trained as an engineer before embarking on an academic career. His interest in the gig economy stems from a number of years spent as a professional musician where short-term, one-off, paid engagements are the norm.