Feminist Futures of Work: Reimagining Labour in the Digital Economy

Open Access Published by Amsterdam University Press 2023

Feminist Futures of Work

Reimagining Labour in the Digital Economy

Edited by: Payal Arora , Usha Raman and René König

Volume 2 in the series Digital Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9789048556892

Overview
Contents

About this book

The future of work is at the centre of debates related to the emerging digital society. Concerns range from the inclusion, equity, and dignity of those at the far end of the value chain, who participate on and off platforms, often in the shadows, invisible to policymakers, designers, and consumers. Precarity and informality characterize this largely female workforce, across sectors ranging from artisanal work to salon services to ride hailing and construction. A feminist reimagining of the futures of work—what we term as “FemWork” —is the need of the day and should manifest in multiple and various forms, placing the worker at the core and drawing on her experiences, aspirations, and realities. This volume offers grounded insights from academic, activist, legal, development and design perspectives that can help us think through these inclusive futures and possibly create digital, social, and governance infrastructures of work that are fairer and more meaningful.

Author / Editor information

Arora Payal :

Payal Arora is a digital anthropologist and author of award-winning books, including The Next Billion Users with Harvard Press. Her expertise lies in digital cultures, inequality, and inclusive design. She is a Professor and Chair in Technology, Values, and Global Media Cultures at Erasmus University, and Co-Founder of FemLab.Co, a future of work initiative.Raman Usha :

Usha Raman is a professor in the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad. Her research and teaching span the areas of journalism pedagogy, critical studies of science, health and technology, feminist media studies, and digital culture. She was elected Vice President of IAMCR for the period 2020-2024. She is co-founder of FemLab.Co, an IDRC-funded initiative on feminist futures of work.König René :

René König is a sociologist interested in the co-evolution of the internet and society. He has worked in the field of Technology Assessment and is currently a PhD student at the University of Stuttgart.

Reviews

"To bring a world of just and equitable work into being, we need truly inclusive visions and strategies. This powerful book deploys a feminist lens to do just that from a diverse range of perspectives."
Prof. Mark Graham, Professor at Oxford Internet Institute and Founder of Fairwork foundation

"For over a century, feminism has fought for women’s rightful, equal place in economies and societies. This thoughtfully conceived, keenly perceptive, and accessibly written book continues the quest, capturing the modern-day struggle of women’s working lives in a digital world. A must-read for anyone interested in promoting more equitable and inclusive labour markets -- today and in the future."
Sabina Dewan, President & Executive Director, JustJobs Network.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	1
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	5
Acknowledgements Open Access Download PDF	9
Preface Gillian Dowie Open Access Download PDF	11
Introduction
The Tangled Web of Women in Work: A Feminist Account Usha Raman, Payal Arora and René König Open Access Download PDF	17
Design
1. AI Design of Ride-hailing Platforms : A Feminist Analysis of Workers’ Precarity Pallavi Bansal Open Access Download PDF	29
2. Making Opportunities Inclusive for First-time Digital Users V. Shrinath Open Access Download PDF	45
3. Globalized Creative Economies : Rethinking Local Craft, Provenance, and Platform Design Laura Herman Open Access Download PDF	53
4. Leveraging Platforms to Bridge the Gender Divide and Drive Inclusive Growth: Perspectives and Recommendations from India Aishwarya Raman and Chhavi Banswal Open Access Download PDF	61
5. Women Resellers in India’s Gig Economy: From Access to Confidence Achyutha Sharma Open Access Download PDF	77
6. Whisper Networks and Workarounds : Negotiating Urban Company’s Interface Sai Amulya Komarraju Open Access Download PDF	87
Governance
7. Entrepreneurs Craft the Future of Collective Artisanal Economies in Bangladesh Upasana Bhattacharjee Open Access Download PDF	101
8. Enabling Women’s Digital Participation : The Case for Meaningful Connectivity Radhika Radhakrishnan, Ana María Rodríguez Pulgarín and Teddy Woodhouse Open Access Download PDF	113
9. Not Quite the Death of Distance in Chennai : Challenging the Resettlement Utopia of Perumbakkam Sunitha Don Bosco and Maartje van Eerd Open Access Download PDF	127
10. Superbrands—Too Big to be Fair? René König and Paula Wittenburg Open Access Download PDF	143
11. Teachers in India and EdTech: A New Part of the Gig Economy? Krishna Akhil Kumar Adavi and Aditi Surie Open Access Download PDF	157
12. Migrant Workers and Digital Inclusion in the Construction Sector in India Shweta Mahendra Chandrashekhar Open Access Download PDF	167
Networks
13. What Lies in the Shadows of a Stakeholder Analysis? A Methodological Analysis to Contextualize the Lives of Women Workers in the Global South Chinar Mehta Open Access Download PDF	187
14. Why Stories Matter for Representation, Action, and Collectivization Siddharth Peter de Souza and Siddhi Gupta Open Access Download PDF	197
15. Ethical Consumerism: Gig Economy’s Road Ahead Brinda Gupta Open Access Download PDF	207
16. Converging Forces : Navigating Climate Change and the Future of Work in Developing Countries Jamil Wyne Open Access Download PDF	217
17. Challenging Capitalist Patriarchy and Negotiating for Women Worker Rights: Exploring the “Right to Sit” Movement in Kerala Anila Backer Open Access Download PDF	231
18. Digital Leisure and Aspirational Work among Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant Women in Brazil Daniela Jaramillo-Dent, Julia Camargo, Payal Arora, Amanda Alencar, John Warnes and Erika Pérez Open Access Download PDF	241
Vision
19. Beyond Underpaid Women and Robots : Towards a Better Future of Care Work Kathryn Kate Boydell and Sharmi Surianarain Open Access Download PDF	255
20. Work and Place: The Non-Boundaries of Women’s Work Usha Raman Open Access Download PDF	267
21. The Future of Dishonourable Work Payal Arora Open Access Download PDF	277
22. The Future of Development Innovation and Finance is Feminist Ramona Liberoff Open Access Download PDF	287
23. Rethinking a Crippled Society Soumita Basu Open Access Download PDF	293
Conclusion: Defining FemWork for Labour Futures Payal Arora, Usha Raman and René König Open Access Download PDF	301
List of Tables, Graphs, and Figures Open Access Download PDF	311
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	313
Index Open Access Download PDF	345

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 346
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 5
- Coloured Illustrations: 12
Keywords: Future of Work; Global South; Digitization; Feminism; Informal Labour

eBook

Published: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9789048556892