Hello, I’m Abhinav Kumar

Platform Labour Researcher specializing in platform capitalism, gig labour, and the political economy of digital work in India.

I completed my PhD in Economics at the Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies (CISLS), School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (2025). My doctoral research examines how Zomato’s food delivery platform algorithmically manages workers, extracts value, and reshapes labour processes. Based on extensive field interviews with delivery workers in Delhi (Dec 2023 - Nov 2024), my work documents the shift from traditional employment to app-mediated precarity—and the emerging strategies workers use to resist.

Beyond food delivery, I’m involved in policy research on youth livelihoods and gig platform sustainability in Uttar Pradesh (ICCSR-funded project, Christ University), and exploring community-based digital marketplaces as alternatives to corporate platforms—including research on online fragrance communities in India that create trust-based economies without platform intermediaries.

Research → Action:
I don’t just study platform capitalism—I build alternatives. My open-source projects include OpenCoop, a cooperative food delivery platform (0% commission, worker-governed, transparent), and IndiaData, an automated analysis pipeline helping researchers with limited resources analyze large-scale Indian survey data. See Projects for details.

Research Questions

I’m interested in questions like:

  • How do platforms control workers without employing them?
  • What forms of resistance emerge in algorithmically-managed gig work?
  • Can community-governed digital marketplaces offer viable alternatives?
  • How will AI reshape platform labour and digital work?
  • How does the Global South experience of platform capitalism differ from the North?

My work combines labour process theory, political economy, and empirical field research with technical capabilities in platform analysis, research automation, and data science tools.

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
  • AI and labour, including AI agents and work reorganization

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.

Methods:

  • Qualitative interviewing and worker narratives
  • Digital ethnography (WhatsApp groups, worker organizing)
  • Survey design and primary data collection (KoboToolbox)
  • Secondary data analysis (NSS, PLFS datasets)
  • Corporate document analysis (annual reports, prospectuses)
  • Institutional analysis and policy interpretation

Academic Background

PhD in Economics (2025)
Centre for Informal Sector and Labour Studies (CISLS)
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Thesis: “Digital Platforms and Food Delivery Systems in India: A Study of Zomato Workers in Delhi”
Supervisor: Prof. Archana Prasad

Field Research:

  • In-depth interviews with Zomato delivery workers (Dec 2023 - Nov 2024, South & South-West Delhi)
  • Union leader consultations (AKEU, IFAT, TGPWU, AIGWU)
  • WhatsApp ethnography of worker organizing groups
  • Worker-provided app screenshots and wage documentation

Current Work

Researcher | Christ (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR
November 2025 - Present

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.

Technical Skills & Research Infrastructure

I combine labour scholarship with technical skills in platform analysis, research automation, and data science.

Programming & Data Analysis:

  • Python: Data scraping, automation, analysis
  • R Studio: Statistical analysis, visualization, research reporting
  • STATA: Econometric analysis, labour market analysis
  • SQL & Tableau: Data querying, visualization, dashboards
  • Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate (February 2026): 9-course certification in spreadsheets, SQL, Tableau, R, Python, data preparation, analysis, and visualization

Survey & Field Tools:

  • KoboToolbox/ODK: Form creation, deployment, field investigator training
  • Large-scale datasets: PLFS, NSS, administrative data analysis

Platform & AI Tools:

  • Platform infrastructure analysis (APIs, algorithmic systems)
  • AI tools and agents for research automation
  • GitHub workflows, version control, open-source collaboration
  • Linux environments, automation tools

For detailed technical skills, see Skills & Expertise.

Currently

I’m converting my dissertation into journal articles for submission to:

  • Work, Employment and Society (algorithmic management)
  • International Labour Review (worker resistance & unionization)
  • Economic and Political Weekly (India-focused platform labour analysis)
  • Development and Change (platform capitalism in the Global South)
  • New Technology, Work and Employment (AI and digital work)

I’m also writing policy briefs on gig worker welfare (based on ICCSR project data) and publishing op-eds on platform labour issues.

Contact

Open to discussing research collaborations, academic opportunities, or questions about platform labour and digital work.

Email: maurya.abhinava@gmail.com

Collaboration Areas

  • Platform labour and worker organization
  • Cooperative and solidarity-based digital economies
  • Global South perspectives on digital capitalism
  • AI and the future of work