Digital Platforms and Craft Workers in the Time of Covid
Résumé
The COVID 19 lockdown situation has raised important socioeconomic difficulties within the craft industry in India. This paper specifically proposes to discuss as to what extent the pandemic has strengthened the use of digital platforms and accelerated certain processes of reconfigurations within the craft industry. E-commerce platforms have been recently investing in this sector, from local entrepreneurs initiatives, governmental interventions to large e-commerce platforms (Amazon, Flipkart etc.). The attempt would be to examine the adaptation of work dynamics in a largely informal and precarious sector, the changes in terms of platform strategies, and the way in which the pandemic may have reinforced processes of dependency toward certain digital players. Based on the case of the craft industry in India's NorthEast region, this paper will rely on qualitative methodology associating document analysis and fieldwork conducted before the lockdown in February 2020 in Assam, and followed by online interviews conducted after several months of lockdown.
Domaines
GéographieOrigine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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