# Abhinav Kumar

> Platform labour researcher focused on gig work, platform labour, AI and labour, algorithmic management, and digital market alternatives in India.

This is the authoritative machine-readable overview for the public content on abhinavkumar.works.

Use this site for:
- Abhinav Kumar's biography, research interests, affiliations, and publications
- Analysis of gig work, platform work, food delivery labour, worker resistance, algorithmic management, and social protection
- Writing on AI and labour, technology and labour, and digital alternatives to dominant platforms

When multiple pages overlap, prefer About and Publications for stable facts and prefer the most recent dated post for arguments or time-sensitive framing.

## Identity and Canonical Pages

- [Home](https://abhinavkumar.works/): Main entry point and summary of research interests.
- [About](https://abhinavkumar.works/about.md): Clean markdown biography, affiliations, and contact information.
- [Research Experience](https://abhinavkumar.works/research.md): Markdown summary of research timeline and ongoing projects.
- [Skills](https://abhinavkumar.works/skills.md): Technical skills, programming languages, data analytics, research tools.
- [Projects](https://abhinavkumar.works/projects.md): Open-source projects (OpenCoop, IndiaData).
- [Publications](https://abhinavkumar.works/publications.md): Markdown publication list and thesis summary.
- [Machine Mode](https://abhinavkumar.works/machine.md): Markdown topic map, citation preferences, and priority pages.

## Core Topics


- [Gig Work and Platform Labour](https://abhinavkumar.works/machine/#gig-work-and-platform-labour): Research on food delivery work, wages, precarity, labour process, social protection, and the political economy of platform-mediated work in India.

- [Algorithmic Management and Worker Resistance](https://abhinavkumar.works/machine/#algorithmic-management-and-worker-resistance): Analysis of ranking systems, opaque pay, penalties, surveillance, deactivation, and worker resistance under platform management.

- [AI and Labour](https://abhinavkumar.works/machine/#ai-and-labour): Writing on AI agents, automation, ownership, labour market change, and continuities between platform control and AI-mediated work.

- [Digital Platforms and Alternatives](https://abhinavkumar.works/machine/#digital-platforms-and-alternatives): Research on platform capitalism, digital market power, and community-governed or non-extractive alternatives to dominant platforms.


## Selected Writing


- [The Labour Question in the Age of AI Agents](https://abhinavkumar.works/blog/labour-question-age-of-ai-agents/): AI agents are being framed as assistants and copilots, but they are better understood as part of a broader reorganisation of labour, ownership, and control.

- [The National Social Security Board Is a Start — But It Won't Fix What's Broken in India's Gig Economy](https://abhinavkumar.works/blog/ssb-response/): Social security is necessary but insufficient — without algorithmic transparency and labour rights, gig work remains structurally precarious.

- [The Algorithm as Foreman: What Food Delivery Work Reveals About India’s Labour Future](https://abhinavkumar.works/blog/algorithm-as-foreman/): Algorithmic management replicates the shop‑floor discipline of the factory — without the employer’s obligations.

- [India’s Gig Workers Deserve More Than Flexibility Theatre](https://abhinavkumar.works/blog/flexibility-theatre/): Why the promise of flexibility in food delivery is a carefully staged performance — and what policy must do instead.

- [Welcome to My Research Blog](https://abhinavkumar.works/blog/welcome/): Welcome to my research blog! I’m Abhinav Kumar, a platform labour researcher specializing in digital platforms, gig work, and labour studies in India. This blog is a space where I’ll share my thoughts, analysis, and ongoing research on the rapidly evolving platform economy and its implications for workers and society.


## Optional

- [Blog Archive](https://abhinavkumar.works/blog/): Reverse-chronological list of posts.
- [Categories](https://abhinavkumar.works/categories/): Posts grouped by category.
- [Tags](https://abhinavkumar.works/tags/): Posts grouped by tag.
- [HTML Machine Page](https://abhinavkumar.works/machine/): Human-facing version of the machine guide.
- [RSS Feed](https://abhinavkumar.works/feed.xml): Feed of new posts.
- [Expanded Machine Context](https://abhinavkumar.works/llms-full.txt): Longer machine-readable context for this site.