Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy

by Alexandrea J. Ravenelle

Choose your hours, choose your work, be your own boss, control your own income. Welcome to the sharing economy, a nebulous collection of online platforms and apps that promise to transcend capitalism. Supporters argue that the gig economy will reverse economic inequality, enhance worker rights, and bring entrepreneurship to the masses. But does it?
 
In Hustle and Gig , Alexandrea J. Ravenelle shares the personal stories of nearly eighty predominantly millennial workers from Airbnb, Uber, TaskRabbit, and Kitchensurfing. Their stories underline the volatility of working in the gig the autonomy these young workers expected has been usurped by the need to maintain algorithm-approved acceptance and response rates. The sharing economy upends generations of workplace protections such as worker safety; workplace protections around discrimination and sexual harassment; the right to unionize; and the right to redress for injuries. Discerning three types of gig economy workers—Success Stories, who have used the gig economy to create the life they want; Strugglers, who can’t make ends meet; and Strivers, who have stable jobs and use the sharing economy for extra cash—Ravenelle examines the costs, benefits, and societal impact of this new economic movement. Poignant and evocative, Hustle and Gig exposes how the gig economy is the millennial’s version of minimum-wage precarious work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sociology, Technology, Labor

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2019

Reviews

[RAJESH PARAMESWARAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting work that classifies Gig Workers into Strugglers, Strivers and Success Stories. Engaging read with a lot theoretical insights as well. A reminder that all is not well within the gig economy. Stories from abroad which reminds us that there is a lot untold about this new market.

[Karen Adkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ravenelle's a sociologist, and her qualitative analysis of the sharing economy (focusing on Uber, AirBnB, Task Rabbit, and Kitchensurfing) focuses on the ways in which the "sharing" is largely lopsided. Her general thesis, which I find persuasive, is that instead of an exciting 'disruption' of capitalism, the sharing economy actually returns us to the piecework of the pre-union Industrial Revolution; gig workers are at the beck and call of both their momentary clients, and more generally, the apps whose algorithms determine their employability (e.g. giggers who take "flexibility" seriously and do not log onto the app for gigs for a few days or weeks because they have other jobs suddenly find themselves locked out of the app, downgraded or downrated, or having to undergo 'reeducation'-style orientation). The economic benefits of the gig economy, as Ravenelle documents, are quite elusive; because some of the sites demand a lot of start-up capital, giggers can spend a lot of money to make erratic sums of money, and for other sites, the per-hour rate can end up being below minimum wage. The absence of contractual protections (benefits, workers' comp) means that this way of life is quite precarious, and even physically hazardous (physical dangers and sexual harassment). I do wish Ravenelle's interviews hadn't been so tightly focused on New York City; I suspect the story becomes more interesting and complicated when we fold in virtual contract work (contract editing, document review in the professions), to say nothing of contract work in more suburban sprawled areas. But still, this is a clear-eyed correction to what I've seen as a naive embrace of contract employment as a flexible solution to a stagnant economy.

[Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure we've all had the feeling that we suspected something is true, but we just didn't have the evidence to say for certain (I try to live this way, but experience tells me my evidence threshold may be a lot higher than it is for most people.) For instance, I suspected that companies that made up the lion's share of "The Sharing Economy" were so full of shit. While these companies would trumpet the fact that they allowed participants to "set their own hours" and "to be entrepreneurial" this was basically just marketing lip service. If we consider Uber, who likes to consider itself the poster child of the "sharing economy", it's easy to see the tremendous mounds of steaming bullshit they are spreading--Uber founder Travis Kalanick, who evidence indicates is a card carrying asshole, was accused of sexual harassment and is chummy with Donald Trump among other things that prove his dickhead bona fides. In addition, Uber considers its drivers to be "independent contractors" which allows Uber to disavow employees complaints about worker protections, benefits and other things that valued employees would expect from employment. The service also undermines a highly regulated taxi service in places like New York City--the cost of obtaining a medallion that allows for taxi service is a cost prohibitive entry into the business that is undermined by "regular people" driving for Uber. While public transportation may be a point of annoyance for commuters, these regulations exist to allow taxi drivers to do their job without having to worry about getting carjacked, sexually assaulted or murdered while trying to do their jobs--something that Uber drivers can't claim. But even with this "evidence" there wasn't enough to definitely say that "sharing economy" services marketing semantics were cynical at best.

Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy is a well researched exploration into how the "sharing economy" actually works. Through interviews with workers of not only Uber, but also AirBnB, TaskRabbit and Kitchensurfing (the latter two I had never heard of before this book) Alexandrea J. Ravenelle is able to expose what is going on beneath the surface of the "sharing economy" and what she reveals is not pretty--that technology is creating an employment subset where employees are constantly under surveillance from the companies running the show, while eroding employee protections that have been added over the past century. In addition, the companies providing the platforms for these workers don't hold up their end of the bargain, as they often "pivot" how the service works, making the terms for workers more difficult while trying to maximize profits. On top of that, the only people who are actually succeeding in the "sharing economy" are the haves who already have the capital to be successful--those who buy the marketing rhetoric barely scrap by. Add to this opportunities for sexual harassment or impressing worker into illegal activities and a suspicion becomes cold hard fact quickly.

If the point of Ravenelle's book is to try and guilt these market leaders of the "sharing economy" is to guilt them into treating the people who use their services to supplement their income (or god forbid, use it as their only revenue stream) as human beings then this exercise is a total waste of time. There isn't any profit in that. Unfortunately, while Ravenelle proposes solutions to these issues by forcing these companies to consider their workers as "employees" instead of "independent contractors", but given the current administration, I wouldn't hold my breath. What she doesn't propose, and the only thing I think will make these companies to listen is to boycott them and not use their services. When the bottom line gets hit is when changes get made. At least now, I know that I'm right in thinking it, instead of just suspecting that I was right.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more a sociological text than a popular reader such as Ehrenreich’s books, like Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, but the book is along the same vein. It’s a look into how are trying to make it work in this “new” gig economy.

The book looks at four app based services and how well they do for the workers: Uber, AirBnB, Kitchensurfing and TaskRabbit. Other app based services are mentioned but not in the detail and the interviews were done with people who worked with one of those four services. Ravenelle uses sociological methods of a standard interview and elicits the information which is detailed and summarized in this book.

There are parts that are very readable, and a few sections that feel more like a text book, overall it’s fine. I found myself highlighting a lot in this book, because there was so much that seemed to define the work.

There are some interesting stories in here. It definitely opened my eyes up to some of these services, even though I’ve used very few. I can understand what it is like to be on the worker side instead of the consumer, or client.

The stories of the people trying to make it, to have the flexibility, and still earn a living, the personal aspect made this book remarkable.


Thanks to University of California Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard part of an interview with the author about the book on NPR Marketplace and checked out a library copy. I was expecting to skim rather than read another timely reportage filled with a lot of dry statistics and research and was pleased to find it filled with interviews with gig workers of various apps who possess a range of abilities and income levels. I felt that Ravenelle exposed the underlying truth behind the glories of the gig economy, and not all of it was negative. She cities workers who have benefitted from the flexibility and extra income that AirBnB and the now-defunct Kitchensurfing provided, but that those workers had the added benefit of capital (AirBnB) and specialized skill (Kitchensurfing). I would rank Hustle and Gig right up there with Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed as a moving testament to the somber economic state of the middle class.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Intelligence is not Alexandrea J. Ravenelle's strong point, quite the opposite, but he has a generous soul. Why, everybody should have a sinecure in some University receiving government handouts for the glorious activity of being at work in most days during the year. After all, struggling is humiliating, all people should be paid by the state to contemplate the shortcomings of the world. Only an evil person would suggest that people like Alexandrea J. Ravenelle would have to find an honest job.

[alanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unreflexive (despite attempts from the author), “grounded theory” is fake ethnography, categorizing workers as “strugglers” “strivers” and “success stories” is not inherently wrong but felt to me like a reification of the stratification that a book ab labor precarity should seek to dismantle.

Not awful, I’m just not a sociology girl. Wish there was more synthesis of history, theory, analysis and ethnographic observation not j interviews.

[Dllefe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hustle & Gig is the handbook for the gig economy. In this timely, well written, well researched insider look, Ravenelle shares stories from 80 gig workers. She provides historical perspective of the changes in the labor market and thought provoking questions about the future of work. A must read for gig workers and consumers and those interested in the future of work.

[Cathy Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has strong opinions about the way companies like Uber treat their workers. I got the impression she went into this project knowing what she wanted to say, and chose her sources accordingly.

The interviews are really interesting, though. I wish she'd included more first-hand material.

[Gerrard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hustle and Gig undercuts the underdog story of the Gig/Sharing Economy, providing readers with unfiltered reflections from gig workers and examining the lack of regulatory oversight that often leaves workers in vulnerable and insolvent situations.

[Amit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting subject. The author does a good job with her research and arguments. But the content is a bit repetitive. The book could have been a lot shorter.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary of the pros and (ample) cons of the sharing economy.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell is empty. Its former denizens design and run the gig economy.

[Kye1959 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely enlightening. I cried once while reading through her ethnographic studies.

[Margaret Wilber · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would be interesting to see an update on this after all the pandemic disruption.

[La Bruja de la Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative read! There's a lot of statistical input but very thorough with less bias than expected.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for one of my classes this term and it definitely opened my eyes to the gig economy! Fantastic read!

[Mills College Library]

331.2596 R253 2019