I. Gershon, down and out in the new Economy: how people find (or Don't Find) Work Today; A.J. Ravenelle, Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy, Oakland; A. Rosenblat, Uberland: how Algorithms are Rewriting the Rules of Work, Oakland
Lenhard, J.
Critique of Anthropology 41(2): 187-191
2020
ISSN/ISBN: 0308-275X Document Number: 233681
A number of recent monographs have been focused on how work is organized and experienced today in the new economy, enabled through digital communication via apps and smartphones. Work by Ravenelle, Rosenblat and Gershon portrays both blue collar and white-collar labour, often as part of the so-called gig economy. With their ethnographic focus, the volumes complement the widespread media critique of Uber, AirBnB and Co. with a large variety of detailed accounts grounding the analysis and the (positive) change it could drive in a much more solid basis. Following their trail further and deeper into the world of new work seems like more than a worthwhile undertaking for our discipline.