Against the Gig Economy: Confronting the “Masterpiece” of Labor Exploitation

Objective: in this essay, we analyze the gig economy as a sophisticated manifestation of labor exploitation in contemporary capitalism through a critical discussion of the management and control mechanisms applied to platform workers. Thesis: we argue that the gig economy constitutes the ‘masterpiece’ of labor exploitation, with spillover effects into other social spheres, by articulating a sophisticated management model and a regime of flexible accumulation that conceals its own structure and enables platform companies to intensify exploitation. We argue that this ‘masterpiece’ is grounded in a process of labor flexibilization, technological transformation, datafication, and social inequalities. We further argue that the management model of digital platforms operates through sophisticated strategies of worker control that combine, respectively, the coercive apparatus of algorithmic management and ideological co-optation. Conclusion: the metaphor of the ‘masterpiece’ is proposed as a conceptual exposition that highlights the sophistication and the concealment of control in the gig economy. Based on this metaphor, we offer theoretical reflections and critical inquiries regarding the structuring, rise, and consolidation of a new form of worker subsumption under capital. We claim that there is no alternative but to challenge, confront, and overcome the gig economy and, to that end, we discuss resistance practices adopted by workers.