Labor Without Employment

What do platforms like Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit owe to their drivers, hosts, and “taskers?” Debates on the subject involve a lot of talking past one another. Those inclined to answer “not much” point to the fact that platform laborers have greater flexibility than traditional employees, and therefore can be described as independent entrepreneurs. On the other hand, labor advocates argue that many platform laborers are just as dependent on the platforms as any traditional employee is dependent on an employer, and therefore the workers are just as subject to exploitation. The former group sees no reason to extend employment protections to platform laborers, while others in the latter camp argue that platform laborers are simply another kind of “employee” and should receive all of the same employment protections. Even those of us seeking a middle-ground approach are stuck wrestling with a word—“employee”—that does not…

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