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SUMMARY:Ride or die: making the long-overdue case for food delivery gig wo
 rk as highly skilled - Dr Adam Badger (Newcastle University)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20241018T120000
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20241018T130000
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/e8043e0b-a06f-4859-9f3b-4fa95d723be1/
DESCRIPTION:There has been a proliferation of academic work surrounding th
 e so-called ‘gig-economy’. With some notable examples\, much of this c
 orpus of literature takes for granted the lowly-skilled nature of the task
 s\, and the de-skilling potential digital platform tools have. For example
 \, the ILO’s International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)
  has no entry for platform work\, but those forms that are closest in subs
 tance (messengers\, package and luggage porters and deliverers” and “h
 and or pedal vehicle drivers) are categorised as “elementary occupations
 ”. In other words\, the “lowest” skilled of all. Whilst these classi
 fications clearly demonstrate that no-one in the ILO has ever actually bee
 n a gig worker\, they also perpetuate a far more pernicious sentiment in o
 ur collective imaginary of platformised work. That it is low-skilled\, and
  thus low-valued. In combination with gig workers’ invisibilised status 
 – rendered invisible by the work\, but also compounded by their race\, m
 igration status and frequently low-levels of formalised education – this
  results in an acceptance of the low pay and poor conditions these workers
  endure.\n\nBased-upon nine-months of covert ethnographic research as a fo
 od delivery worker in London and eighteen months of overt research with a 
 trade union organising gig workers across the UK\, this paper argues that 
 food delivery gig work can – in fact – be highly skilled. In doing so\
 , it re-draws widely held misconceptions within and beyond the academy of 
 these forms of work and demonstrates the highly skilled nature of the task
  at hand – especially so given the time and financial pressures these wo
 rkers are under. It is worthy of note that many other ethnographic studies
  that do not conceptualise these workers as highly skilled have been under
 taken by academics or researchers not reliant-upon the income this job gen
 erates\, and thus able to not rush\, or develop the corporeal knowledges r
 equired to undertake the job safely and successfully.\n\nIt is not shy in 
 its ambition to totally re-cast the way many researchers view platform wor
 kers and the increasing encroachment of work into technology. It calls dir
 ectly for an end to academic complicity in the narrative that these worker
 s are somehow low-skilled. It is hoped that this perspective will give ren
 ewed vigour to attempts to organise workers and stake claims around negoti
 ations with firms based on a compelling case for the work as a skilled end
 eavour. When we understand skill as a separate category to replaceability 
 (the two are often confused in practice) then we can drive new directions 
 for worker organising and research support in the future.\nSpeakers:\nDr A
 dam Badger (Newcastle University)
LOCATION:1 St Giles' (Seminar Room or on Zoom)\, 1 St Giles' OX1 3JS
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/e8043e0b-a06f-4859-9f3b-4fa95d723be1/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:Ride or die: making the long-overdue case for food delive
 ry gig work as highly skilled - Dr Adam Badger (Newcastle University)
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