Purpose

This article seeks to answer the question: how should we conceptualise the “gig economy”? In doing so the authors shall explore if gig economy work should be understood as a novel concept that stands alone, a concept that is a subtype, or whether it may in fact be conceptually redundant.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conduct a thematic analysis of interview data drawn from 27 interviews with policymakers, trade union officials, key figures within labour organisations and gig economy workers.

Findings

The authors reveal how, from the perspective of key stakeholders, the concept of the gig economy exhibits a lack of “differentiation” from the long-established concept of precarious work of which it is best understood as a subtype.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical findings from the authors’ study should be regarded as limited in terms of being situated in the specific employment context of the UK. Nevertheless, the implications of the study have a broader reach. The authors seek to provoke debate and discussion among scholars across disciplines and contexts working in the areas of precarious work and the gig economy. The authors’ analysis will be of interest to scholars who are concerned with how they conceptualise “new” forms of work.

Originality/value

The analysis offers a novel intervention by revealing how key stakeholders perceive the gig economy through a prism of continuity rather than change and connect it with broader processes of precarity.

中文翻译：

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定义零工经济：平台资本主义和不稳定工作的重塑

目的

本文试图回答这个问题：我们应该如何概念化“零工经济”？在这样做时，作者将探讨零工经济工作是否应被理解为一个独立的新概念、一个子类型的概念，或者它实际上是否可能在概念上是多余的。

设计/方法/方法

作者对来自对决策者、工会官员、劳工组织内的关键人物和零工经济工作者的 27 次访谈的访谈数据进行了专题分析。

发现

作者揭示了，从关键利益相关者的角度来看，零工经济的概念如何与长期建立的不稳定工作概念缺乏“区别”，最好将其理解为一个子类型。

研究限制/影响

作者研究的实证结果应被视为有限的，因为它位于英国的特定就业环境中。然而，这项研究的影响范围更广。作者试图在不稳定工作和零工经济领域的跨学科和跨背景的学者之间引发辩论和讨论。作者的分析将引起关注如何概念化“新”工作形式的学者的兴趣。

原创性/价值

该分析通过揭示关键利益相关者如何通过连续性而非变化的棱镜来看待零工经济，并将其与更广泛的不稳定过程联系起来，从而提供了一种新颖的干预措施。