IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v29y2023i4p439-455.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internalising precariousness: experiences of Georgian platform workers

Author

Listed:
  • Ana Diakonidze

Abstract

Much has been written about the precarious nature of platform work, whether in high-income or less advanced economies. The lack of alternative employment opportunities and the high level of informal work in the latter are often assumed to be the key incentive for local workers to take on platform work. There is however little research on how exactly local conditions affect workers’ choices and most importantly on the factors making them accept the precariousness of platform labour. Based on 40 interviews with ride-hailing drivers in Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia, this article argues that, rather than the lack of alternative opportunities, the poor quality of available jobs and the lack of social protection are the factors leading workers to accept and internalise precariousness, making the inherent features of app-based work seem normal.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Diakonidze, 2023. "Internalising precariousness: experiences of Georgian platform workers," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 29(4), pages 439-455, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:29:y:2023:i:4:p:439-455
    DOI: 10.1177/10242589231186963
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10242589231186963
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/10242589231186963?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barbora Holubová & Ana Diakonidze & Marta Kahancová, 2020. "Trade unions and professional associations as civil society actors working on the issues of labour rights and social dialogue in Georgia," Research Reports 37, Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI).
    2. Christina Behrendt & Quynh Anh Nguyen & Uma Rani, 2019. "Social protection systems and the future of work: Ensuring social security for digital platform workers," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(3), pages 17-41, July.
    3. Andrey Shevchuk & Denis Strebkov & Shannon N. Davis, 2019. "The Autonomy Paradox: How Night Work Undermines Subjective Well-Being of Internet-Based Freelancers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 72(1), pages 75-100, January.
    4. Bruno Palier, 2019. "Work, social protection and the middle classes: What future in the digital age?," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(3), pages 113-133, July.
    5. Gerald Friedman, 2014. "Workers without employers: shadow corporations and the rise of the gig economy," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 2(2), pages 171-188, April.
    6. Eduardo Valente & Roberto Patrus & Rosana Córdova Guimarães, 2019. "Sharing economy: becoming an Uber driver in a developing country," Revista de Gestão, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(2), pages 143-160, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bürgisser, Reto, 2023. "Policy Responses to Technological Change in the Workplace," SocArXiv kwxn2, Center for Open Science.
    2. Irram Shahzadi & Saira Rafiq & Umair Ali, 2022. "Investigating the Influence of Flexible Work Arrangements on Work-Life Balance in South Asian Gig Workers: Does Ryff's Six-Factor model of Psychological Well-being Moderates?," iRASD Journal of Management, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 4(2), pages 316-329, june.
    3. Kool, Tamara & Bordon, Giulio & Gassmann, Franziska, 2021. "Access to social protection for platform and other non-standard workers: A literature review," MERIT Working Papers 2021-002, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    4. Andrey SHEVCHUK & Denis STREBKOV, 2023. "Digital platforms and the changing freelance workforce in the Russian Federation: A ten‐year perspective," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(1), pages 1-22, March.
    5. Rossella Bozzon & Annalisa Murgia, 2022. "Independent or Dependent? European Labour Statistics and Their (In)ability to Identify Forms of Dependency in Self-employment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 199-226, February.
    6. Gilles Paché, 2020. "Inside Delivery Platforms: The Covid-19 Pandemic And After," Post-Print hal-03041080, HAL.
    7. Santana, Monica & Cobo, Manuel J., 2020. "What is the future of work? A science mapping analysis," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 846-862.
    8. Geissinger, Andrea & Laurell, Christofer & Sandström, Christian, 2020. "Digital Disruption beyond Uber and Airbnb—Tracking the long tail of the sharing economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    9. Bögenhold, Dieter & Klinglmair, Robert & Kandutsch, Florian, 2018. "Self-employment on the way in a digital economy: A variety of shades of grey," MPRA Paper 85321, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Veronica Rattini, 2023. "Worker autonomy and performance: Evidence from a real‐effort experiment," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 300-327, April.
    11. Inga Laß & Mark Wooden, 2019. "Non-standard Employment and Wages in Australia," RBA Annual Conference Papers acp2019-04, Reserve Bank of Australia, revised Jul 2019.
    12. Arfive Gandhi & Yudho Giri Sucahyo, 2021. "Architecting an Advanced Maturity Model for Business Processes in the Gig Economy: A Platform-Based Project Standardization," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-21, November.
    13. Mujtaba Ahsan, 2020. "Entrepreneurship and Ethics in the Sharing Economy: A Critical Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 19-33, January.
    14. Majdouline, Ilias & Baz, Jamal El & Jebli, Fedwa, 2022. "Revisiting technological entrepreneurship research: An updated bibliometric analysis of the state of art," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    15. Tünde Zita Kovács & Forest David & Adrián Nagy & István Szűcs & András Nábrádi, 2021. "An Analysis of the Demand-Side, Platform-Based Collaborative Economy: Creation of a Clear Classification Taxonomy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.
    16. Uchiyama, Yosuke & Furuoka, Fumitaka & Md. Akhir, Md. Nasrudin, 2022. "Gig Workers, Social Protection and Labour Market Inequality: Lessons from Malaysia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(3), pages 165-184.
    17. Skrzek-Lubasińska, Małgorzata & Szaban, Jolanta M., 2019. "Nomenclature and harmonised criteria for the self-employment categorisation. An approach pursuant to a systematic review of the literature," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 376-386.
    18. Kate Roll & Catherine Dolan & Dinah Rajak, 2021. "Remote (Dis)engagement: Shifting Corporate Risk to the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(4), pages 878-901, July.
    19. Anne Bäro & Felix Toepler & Timo Meynhardt & Vivek K. Velamuri, 2022. "Participating in the sharing economy: The role of individual characteristics," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 3715-3735, December.
    20. John Komlos, 2023. "Estimating the Income of the January 6, 2021 Insurrectionists," CESifo Working Paper Series 10231, CESifo.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:29:y:2023:i:4:p:439-455. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.