Abhinav Kumar

Platform Labour Researcher focused on gig work, platform labour, AI and labour, digital platforms, and community-governed alternatives in India.

Identity

  • Role: Platform Labour Researcher
  • Institutional background: PhD in Economics (2025), Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
  • Current position: Research Associate, Christ (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR
  • Geographic focus: India and the Global South
  • Website: https://abhinavkumar.works
  • Email: mailto:maurya.abhinava@gmail.com

Research Areas

  • Platform capitalism and algorithmic management
  • Labour process theory and digital work
  • Gig worker resistance and unionization
  • Platform alternatives and community-governed marketplaces
  • AI, automation, and the future of work
  • Informality, precarity, and the Global South

Methods

  • Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research
  • Fieldwork and digital ethnography (WhatsApp groups, worker organizing)
  • Survey design and primary data collection (KoboToolbox)
  • Secondary data analysis using NSS and PLFS datasets
  • Corporate document analysis
  • Institutional analysis and policy interpretation

Current and Recent Work

  • PhD thesis (2025): Digital platforms and food delivery systems in India, with a focus on Zomato workers in Delhi
  • ICCSR-funded project: Sustainability of digital jobs and youth livelihoods in the gig-platform economy (Uttar Pradesh)
  • Ongoing research: Community-based digital marketplaces and informal alternatives to platform intermediation, including online fragrance communities in India
  • Articles in preparation: Submitting to Work, Employment and Society, International Labour Review, Economic and Political Weekly, Development and Change

Technical Skills

  • Platform infrastructure analysis (APIs, algorithmic systems)
  • AI tools and agents (LLMs, agent frameworks)
  • Programming: Python, R, STATA, SQL
  • Data analytics: Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate (2026)
  • GitHub workflows and open-source collaboration
  • Linux environments and automation tools
  • Research automation and data pipelines

Differentiator

Unlike most labour scholars, combines political economy analysis with hands-on technical understanding of digital platforms, AI systems, and research infrastructure—a researcher-developer hybrid profile rare in labour studies.

Canonical HTML Page

  • https://abhinavkumar.works/about/