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ID: 191842

Locked in, logged out: pandemic and ride-hailing in South Africa and Kenya / Anwar, Mohammad Amir ; Stein, Malte ; Otieno, Elly

Anwar, Mohammad Amir	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

This article examines the impact of the pandemic on ride-hailing drivers and their mitigation strategies during lockdown in Africa. Ride-hailing has emerged as one of the latest paid-work opportunities for the continent's many unemployed. Yet, ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Bolt misclassify drivers to avoid regulation and responsibilities towards workers’ welfare. Drawing on 34 in-depth interviews with ride-hailing drivers, driver representatives and trade unions in South Africa and Kenya, this article makes two arguments. First, the gig economy in Africa provides work opportunities for the unemployed on the continent and simultaneously vitiates the working conditions through the commodification and informalisation of work. Second, the state-directed emergency measures act as a veneer to capital's efforts to commodify labour and the gig economy platforms have emerged as primary tools for it. Our account points to an urgent need for better regulatory systems to hold platform companies accountable and a collective bargaining mechanism in the gig economy.

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Informality ; Uber ; Platforms ; Covid-19 Pandemic ; Gig Economy ; Ride Hailing

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ID: 183487

Taking the bull by its horns: the political economic logics of new farm laws and agrarian dissent in India / Anwar, Mohammad Amir; Shakeel, Adnan

Shakeel, Adnan	Journal Article
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The Indian government’s latest series of farm laws (a set of three Acts) have sparked protests by farmers around the country. This viewpoint argues that the new farm laws are designed to deepen capitalism within the countryside by liberalising agricultural trade. It highlights the political economic logics of the new farm laws and outlines the contradictions inherent in these laws. It also argues that agrarian dissent is fractured along class lines and that we need broad movements for social justice to address growing socio-economic inequalities in the country.

Key Words

Economic Reforms ; India ; Food Security ; Agrarian Dissent ; Farm Laws

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