Risky Business

Techno-masculinist conceptions of flexibility in India’s platform economy

Abstract

Location-based digital platforms promise flexibility, autonomy, and supplemental income, but neo-liberal hustle culture shifts risks onto workers, exposing women to heightened sexist and sexual violence. By promoting freedom and entrepreneurship, these platforms perpetuate techno-masculinist notions of flexibility, ignoring women’s needs. Through narrative analysis of 10 female platform workers in India’s ridesharing and food delivery sectors, this study reveals how masculine ideas of flexibility and risk deepen the precarity of already precarious work..