Books and Papers
The Platform Livelihoods Project
Working, Trading, Renting, and Creating in a Digital Age
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Digital platforms are changing how individuals around the world find work, and how entrepreneurs, enterprises, and farmers connect with markets.
The Platform Livelihoods Project, represented by the eleven studies that appear in this volume and additional studies conducted in 2024, set out to explore two broad questions:
- What are the experiences of individual workers and sellers as they rely on platforms to earn a living?
- What are the opportunities to improve those experiences?
Platform livelihoods are the ways people earn a living by working, trading, renting, and creating in digital marketplaces. These studies demonstrate how “platform livelihoods” are more fractional, more social, more trade-focused, and more numerous than gig work alone. In some markets, one worker in five relies on a platform, for at least some of their livelihood.
Conducted between 2018 and 2023 in Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, the studies collected in this volume draw on over 700 qualitative interviews, 140 survey respondents, 70 expert interviews, 16 platform case studies, and 70 video profiles—mostly self-shot. Each interview and story is both a unique experience and a glimpse into the experiences of millions more people around the world, earning a living in digital marketplaces and on social media platforms.
Contributors Dr. Jonathan Donner, Dr. Savita Bailur, Jessica Osborn, Annabel Schiff, Dr. Emrys Schoemaker, Grace Natabaalo, Hélène Smertnik, Chris Locke, Therese Nana Mokoah Ackatia-Armah, James Angoye, Nana Akua Anyidoho, Eliza Casey, Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Olayhinka David-West, Shikoh Gitau, Miranda Grant, Renée Hunter, Catherine Kamanu, Jake Kendall, Caroline Mangowal, Irene Mbari-Kirika, Julius Mbura, Christian McDonaugh, Eoghan McDonaugh, Fred Mucha, Ann Muthiru, Wangari Njathi, Mariah Ngutu, Abubakar Nuuman, Nasummbo Ongoma, Raymond Onuoha, Emily Parcell, Finn Richardson, LeRoy Tim Ruhupatty, Erlyn Shukmadewi, Reem Talhouk, Tessie Waithira, Bruce Walker, Mark Wensley, Adam Wills
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This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
