Abhinav Kumar

Development Researcher specializing in digital platforms, gig work, and labour studies in India. PhD candidate at JNU, New Delhi.

Hello, I’m Abhinav Kumar

Development Researcher specializing in digital platforms, platform co-ops, gig work, informal work, and food delivery systems in India.

I am a PhD candidate at the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. My research examines how platform capitalism restructures markets and work, how workers respond through unionization and collective action, and how communities experiment with non-extractive, community-governed digital market systems.

Academic Background

PhD candidate at the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. I have submitted my doctoral thesis which focused on food delivery platforms, labour process, and resistance in India.

Research Focus

My research examines digital platforms, gig economy, labour markets, and food delivery systems with a focus on worker conditions and policy implications. I am particularly interested in:

  • Political economy of digital platforms and market power
  • Labour process, control, and worker resistance in platform-mediated work
  • Sustainability of gig and platform-based employment in the Global South
  • Community-governed and non-extractive digital market systems
  • Informal governance, trust, and solidarity-based digital infrastructures

Methodology

I am skilled in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research, survey design, policy analysis, and field-based investigations. My work is grounded in Global South contexts, informed by long-term fieldwork, digital ethnography, and direct engagement with labour unions and worker collectives.

Current Work

Researcher Christ (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR

Working on an ICCSR-funded project on “Sustainability of Digital Jobs and Youth Livelihoods in the Gig-Platform Economy” in Uttar Pradesh.

Ongoing Research: Community-based digital marketplaces and informal alternatives to platform intermediation, with a case focus on online fragrance communities in India.

Summary

Development researcher specializing in digital platforms, platform co-ops, gig work, informal work, and food delivery systems in India. Experienced in working with large-scale datasets (NSSO, PLFS) and conducting extensive field-based research. Strong interest in labour markets, food delivery systems, and policy-relevant economic research.

Contact

I’m always open to discussing research collaborations, academic opportunities, or questions about my work on gig economy and digital platforms.

  • Email: maurya.abhinava@gmail.com
  • Phone: +91 8874062661
  • Address:
    Centre for Informal Sector and Labor Studies
    School of Social Sciences
    Jawaharlal Nehru University
    New Delhi, India

Collaboration

I’m open to collaboration on research related to:

  • Platform labour and worker organization
  • Cooperative and solidarity-based digital economies
  • Informal and community-governed digital infrastructures
  • Global South perspectives on digital capitalism

Feel free to reach out via email or through my website.