Chapter 1: Understanding Conflict and Shifting Boundaries in the Gig Economy Through the Dynamic Structural Model

The growth of the gig economy is evident across the globe and is often presented in the media, as a simple phenomenon characterised by conflict due to the upheaval of well-worn organisational structures and employee relations. This interdisciplinary and multilevel text seeks to expose the multifaceted nature of the gig economy and the granularity of experiences of key stakeholders operating within it. Conflicts as well as shifting boundaries are addressed to demonstrate the variety of forms the gig economy can take and how it creates tension and enhanced precariousness within existing global legal, economic and organisational structures and frameworks. Core to this analysis is an appreciation for what the gig economy actually is, as there is no singly agreed definition. The gig economy has been defined in encompassing terms as ‘a work context comprised primarily of short-term independent freelance workers who contract with organisations or sell directly to the market’ (Ashford, Caza, and Reid, 2018, p. 2) and people having non-permanent fixed hours of work and doing individual, separately paid pieces of work (CIPD, 2017, p. 4). Others have sought to focus more exclusively on the technological features of gig work and management by algorithm, as the defining characteristics of the gig economy (see Duggan, Sherman, Carbery, & McDonnell, 2019). In this chapter we will explore the benefits and inherent diversity in each approach and provide a working definition and also Dynamic Structural Model through which to study the various elements of this contested domain. Policy recommendations for the gig economy are not straightforward given its heterogeneous nature, spatial dimensions and how new forms of work impact individuals differently dependent on the skill set required (Johnes, 2019). This book seeks to contribute to policy debates on the future of work that recognise this complexity through applying an interdisciplinary and multilevel analysis to the gig economy.