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Indian Freelancers in the Platform Economy: Prospects and Problems

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Globalization, Labour Market Institutions, Processes and Policies in India

Abstract

Across the globe, the platform economy, comprising online and offline variants, engages freelancers as independent contractors, excluding them from employee status, thereby advancing precarity. Internationally, there are various initiatives to address the vulnerabilities of platform workers. Indian online freelancers hold mixed views about their predicament, considering their gains juxtaposed against their problems. In dealing with these contradictions, some freelancers invoke merit and conformity, deeming regulation and collectivization as irrelevant, while other freelancers, acknowledging merit and conformity, emphasize the importance of external oversight. Enhancing the prospects of Indian platform workers appears to be left to the endeavours of progressive pressure groups within the subcontinent, perhaps aided by the middle-class membership of the workforce. Alongside this, international responses unifying the voice of labour across the North-South divide and placing the platform economy within the purview of non-standard employment at least and standard employment at best are relevant ways ahead.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor, Organizational Behaviour Area, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, India

    Premilla D’Cruz & Ernesto Noronha

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  1. Premilla D’Cruz
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  2. Ernesto Noronha
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Correspondence to Premilla D’Cruz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor, HRM Area, XLRI, Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, India

    K. R. Shyam Sundar

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D’Cruz, P., Noronha, E. (2019). Indian Freelancers in the Platform Economy: Prospects and Problems. In: Shyam Sundar, K.R. (eds) Globalization, Labour Market Institutions, Processes and Policies in India. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7111-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7111-0_10

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