Work and digital technology

It is now an almost unchallenged understanding that the future of work is going to be heavily shaped by and dependent on emerging digital technologies. And yet, globally, the terrain for the futures of work and digital technologies is uneven. In India, digitalisation is, in popular narrative, welcomed as a sign of the country’s modernisation and progress, as well as a promise for improved social inclusion. This chapter closely interrogates this understanding by reviewing the recent history of work, historical and structural inequalities, and workers’ experiences of digitalisation of work in India. In particular, it takes a close look at the boom in the services sector, particularly the information technology or IT industry in post-1990 India, engaging with debates over the measure and nature of unemployment in the country. It further explores the ways in which the influence of digital technology on work may reproduce and challenge long-standing patterns of work, such as, low female labour force participation, informal and insecure work, and caste-differentiation in work. Finally, it highlights scholarship that offers an insight into the everyday experiences of workers to understand digital futures of work in India.