Sharing Economy Workers: Selling, Not Sharing. Alexandrea J. Ravenelle CUNY, The Graduate Center

Transcription

1 Sharing Economy Workers: Selling, Not Sharing Alexandrea J. Ravenelle CUNY, The Graduate Center

2 Rhetoric better than reality Many Your Text free here sharing economy sites are defunct Snapgoods, Share Some Sugar, Crowd Rent, Lorem Neighborrow ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing laoreet Or nearly dolore so: magna Neighborgoods aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea Or superseded by for-profit sites Airbnb instead of Couchsurfing Taskrabbit and Thumbprint for gig work as vulputate opposed velit to Craigslist esse molestie consequat, vel illum

3 Commoditizing services Exponential growth July 2015, Uber was valued at north of $50 billion (Macmillan & Demos, 2015) Your Airbnb, Text $24 herebillion in June 2015 (Winkler & Macmillan, 2015) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing Short-term, elit, sed diam gig employment nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet In the dolore words magna of one CEO: aliquam "you erat can volutpat. hire 10,000 Ut wisi enim people ad minim for 10 to veniam, 15 minutes. quis nostrud When they're exerci tation done, ullamcorper those 10,000 suscipit people lobortis just melt nisl away" ut aliquip (Associated ex ea commodo Press, 2013) consequat. Critics Duis charge: autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore Shifting eu of feugiat risk to nulla workers facilisis at vero eros et accumsan Rolling back et iusto social odio protections dignissim (discrimination qui blandit praesent in luptatum public accommodation zzril delenit augue and duis hiring; dolore lack te of feugait nulla workplace protections & rights) Low-wage, precarious work Entrepreneurialism for all?

4 Sharing is caring? Sharing economy feel-good messaging: Your Sharing Text is here caring Trust Lorem Rachel ipsum Botsman, dolor author sit amet, of The consectetuer Rise of Collaborative adipiscing Consumption: "We now live in a global village where we can elit, sed mimic diam the ties nonummy that used to nibh happen euismod face to face. tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim Community ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper John Zimmer, suscipit a co-founder lobortis nisl of the ut taxi-app aliquip ex Lyft ea compares the sharing economy to his time spent on the Oglala Sioux reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota: 'Their sense of community, of connection to each other and to their land, made me feel more vulputate happy velit and alive esse than molestie I ve ever consequat, felt before,' vel he illum says. 'I think people are craving real human interaction it s dolore like eu an feugiat instinct. nulla We now facilisis have at the vero opportunity eros et to use accumsan technology et iusto help odio us dignissim get there' qui (Tanz, blandit 2014). praesent Efficient use of resources Entrepreneurism for all

5 What about the workers? There is a little discussion of the experience Your Text here of workers in the sharing economy. Are these workers fledgling entrepreneurs who are Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, entering sed diam small nonummy business ownership nibh euismod in droves? tincidunt ut laoreet Or are dolore sharing magna economy aliquam ranks comprised erat volutpat. of quietlydesperate ad minim workers veniam, who have quis been nostrud unable exerci to find tation jobs in Ut wisi enim ullamcorper the mainstream suscipit economy? lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea Is this an actual opt-out, where college-educated workers, frustrated with the lack of work-life balance in Duis mainstream autem vel companies, eum iriure are dolor cobbling hendrerit together piecework in vulputate in exchange velit for esse added molestie flexibility? consequat, vel illum

6 Interviews transcribed and coded, then analyzed using grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), an inductive approach that allows concepts and theories to emerge from the data Methodology Recruited through websites and direct interaction Your Text March here to Nov 2015 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper Mixed methods suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo Qualitative consequat. in-person interview Average length: 2+ hours Duis autem Weiss s vel eum (1994) iriure interview dolor in matrix hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore Quantitative eu feugiat nulla demographic facilisis at vero survey eros et luptatum Race, zzril delenit Age, Income, augue duis Education dolore Levels, te feugait Political nulla Affiliation, Reasons they were attracted to the sharing economy, etc.

7 Demographics

8 Conflicting messages Your Text here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum

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14 Platform requirements reduce Sarah, entrepreneurial 29, Taskrabbit identity "I just think TaskRabbit is more like working for Your them." Text here Taskrabbit pivot led to an organization that was more Lorem focused ipsum on dolor profit sit and, amet, "not consectetuer really caring adipiscing about these laoreet workers. dolore There magna were aliquam people erat complaining volutpat. Ut and wisi like in enim tears ad minim and because veniam, they quis were nostrud like 'I exerci don t tation have any ullamcorper income now. suscipit I was lobortis your nisl top ut TaskRabbit aliquip ex ea and you commodo are treating consequat. me like shit' and kind-of felt like a betrayal." vulputate velit esse molestie ---Sarah, consequat, 29, Taskrabbit vel illum luptatum I don t zzril see delenit myself augue as an duis entrepreneur. dolore te feugait I see nulla myself part of a system to help somebody else make money... Even though legally as a Taskrabbit, I'm an independent contractor, I see myself as a Taskrabbit employee. --- Jamal, 25, Taskrabbit

15 Sharing economy confusion I m not sure if the sharing economy is the best name Your for Text it. I m herenot sure what exactly they re getting with the idea of sharing economy but when I think of Lorem sharing ipsum economy dolor sit amet, I think consectetuer of a culture adipiscing where elit, there s sed diam bartering. nonummy I nibh mean, euismod with a lot tincidunt of the ut sharing laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim economy ad minim things veniam, that quis are going nostrud on, exerci people tation are paying ullamcorper for a product, suscipit that s lobortis basically nisl ut what aliquip they re ex ea doing. ---Robert, 28, Taskrabbit vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum

16 Impetus: Money, not sharing The sharing economy, I think, by large is a misnomer. It would be sharing if you were Couchsurfing but Your you're Text here giving me money and I probably wouldn t let you stay with me if you weren't giving me Lorem money, ipsum so dolor we're sit not amet, sharing. consectetuer You're adipiscing paying me elit, and sed I'm diam giving nonummy you something, nibh euismod a product, tincidunt a service. ut laoreet That s dolore just good magna marketing aliquam erat but it s volutpat. not very Ut honest. wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis ---Andrew, nisl ut aliquip 28, Airbnb ex ea host I got into it because it was so profitable. I wasn't Duis thinking autem in vel terms eum iriure of I want dolor to in be hendrerit involved in in the vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore sharing eu feugiat economy. nulla I facilisis didn't at think vero of eros it as et the accumsan sharing et economy. iusto odio dignissim Now, I only qui think blandit of it praesent as a luptatum sharing zzril economy, delenit sort augue of duis like in dolore a general te feugait and nulla philosophical sense. To me, it's still sort of like a hustle. ---Josh, 32, Airbnb host

17 Do you think of yourself as an Sarah, entrepreneur? 29, Taskrabbit Your I m Text an entrepreneur here in general. I don t know about this particular Airbnb. ---Aalia, 30, Airbnb Host Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper I think of myself suscipit more lobortis as I m nisl just ut aliquip here to ex help ea you and commodo call it a day. consequat. OK, next person. If I didn t have my [fulltime job] probably yes, but because I have my job, I Duis don t autem see it vel as eum me having iriure dolor to be in an hendrerit entrepreneur. in It s vulputate just me velit putting esse myself molestie on a consequat, Craigslist without vel illum dolore Criagslist... eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et luptatum zzril delenit augue ---Ashley, duis dolore 28, te Airbnb feugait Host nulla Somewhat but mostly not... I'm trying to start my own business so more for that reason than because I use Airbnb. ---Andrew, 28, Airbnb Host

18 Do you think of yourself as an Sarah, entrepreneur? 29, Taskrabbit Entrepreneurs are people that start companies. I rent Your my Text house here to people. I work for Facebook and Instagram, so it s like the Lorem entrepreneurial-type ipsum dolor sit amet, culture. consectetuer And we kind adipiscing of breathe laoreet that. dolore But I work magna with aliquam entrepreneurs, erat volutpat. like people Ut wisi who enim are ad building minim businesses veniam, quis around nostrud our exerci platform. tation They re ullamcorper employing suscipit multiple lobortis people nisl and ut their aliquip livelihood ex ea is based commodo on the success consequat. of entities they started. I don t do that. If my place doesn t get rented out, it s vacant. vulputate So I m definitely velit esse molestie not an entrepreneur. consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis ---James, at vero eros 36, et Airbnb Host

19 Stigmatized work "Uber for me is a feeling like 'when you get really Your drunk Text and heregret whatever you did last night.' That's exactly it. I really don't want to be associated as Lorem an Uber ipsum driver dolor at sit any amet, point consectetuer of my life. adipiscing I really don't elit, want sed it diam to come nonummy up when nibh people euismod search tincidunt my name ut on laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim Google." ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis ---Baran, nisl ut 28, aliquip Uber ex driver ea vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum

20 Kitchensurfing: An Exception Traditional Your Kitchensurfing Text here Pick a chef & meal Manhattan Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing Chefs pay 10% fee laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim Kitchensurfing ad minim veniam, Today quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper Weeknight, suscipit $25/pp lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea all-inclusive 7 cities in the US Chefs paid $75 for shift vulputate Weekly velit Metrocard esse molestie consequat, vel illum accumsan 15 chefs interviewed et iusto odio to date dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum Majority consider zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla themselves to be entrepreneurs

21 Kitchensurfing Chefs = Sarah, Entrepreneurs 29, Taskrabbit I want to exit what I do right now. That s one of Your the Text reasons herewhy I got on Kitchensurfing because I wanted to create my own brand of African food. Lorem So it's ipsum a great dolor testing sit amet, ground consectetuer for me, adipiscing to test, laoreet Do people dolore magna even like aliquam the food? erat volutpat. Because Ut wisi enim people ad minim haven t veniam, heard of quis Western nostrud African exerci food. tation ullamcorper ---Ashaki, suscipit lobortis 35, Kitchensurfing nisl ut aliquip Chef ex ea Duis I m autem mostly vel using eum Kitchensurfing iriure dolor in as hendrerit a resource in to vulputate build my velit future esse business. molestie consequat, vel illum accumsan et ---Ladu, iusto odio 39, dignissim Kitchensurfing qui blandit Chef praesent It s a cheese-tasting company. I talk to the clients and give them my cards. ---Rachel, 29, Kitchensurfing Chef

22 Airbnb Syndicate Owner This has become a business I have lots of places, I have cleaning people I have Your Text here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing to elit, pay, sed I diam have, nonummy you nibh euismod tincidunt ut know, laoreet responsibilities. dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation If ullamcorper I stopped suscipit paying lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea attention to it, it would collapse, right? vulputate ---Joshua, velit esse 32, molestie consequat, vel illum dolore Corporate eu feugiat Attorney, nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan 8 Airbnb et listings iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent

23 Airbnb Hotelier Your Text here I own a hotel. I m a hotelier. I just have a room here and apartment there, but I currently have 25 guests in this city staying in my places. They all have my phone Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim number. veniam, Anything quis nostrud happens; exerci tation I m in ullamcorper charge suscipit of lobortis them. nisl That s ut aliquip the ex exact ea same thing as in a hotel... Until I have that chain of hotels, I just have a chain of different apartments all vulputate velit over esse this molestie island. consequat, vel illum accumsan et iusto ---Yosef, odio dignissim 27, qui blandit praesent Student, 13 Airbnb listings

24 Wrapping Up Alexandrea Ravenelle CUNY, The Graduate Center Excelsior College

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