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UPSC Optional 2026Question 25SociologyWorks and Economic Life150 words

Compare the social organisation of work in industrial capitalism and platform capitalism. (Answer in 150 words)

Model answer & approach

- Compare the social organisation of work in industrial capitalism and platform capitalism. (Answer in 150 words)
Introduction
Platform work changes where the supervisor stands, not what he is doing.

Body

1. Work under industrial capitalism: Workers are gathered in one workplace on fixed hours under foremen; conception is separated from execution and the job deskilled, as Braverman described; and the employment contract carries legal standing, while co-presence produces unions.
2. Work under platform capitalism: Workers are dispersed and coordinated through an application. The firm owns the intermediation, not the tools — the rider brings his own vehicle. Control runs through ratings, algorithmic allocation and the threat of deactivation, payment is per task, and the worker is classed as a partner outside the employment relation.
3. The axes on which they differ: Locus of control, foreman against algorithm; site, factory against street; legal form, employee against contractor; who bears risk; and the basis of solidarity, shop floor against messaging group.
4. What carries over unchanged: The separation of conception from execution, and surplus extracted from measured effort.

Conclusion
The Code on Social Security, 2020 defines gig and platform workers and Rajasthan legislated for them in 2023, but recognition is not yet employment.
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