Independent-work boosters frame gig careers as voluntary self-fulfillment

Evidence

In a 2015 Huffington Post article, Gene Zaino, president and CEO of MBO Partners—the same organization that published the above-mentioned study of independent work in the United States—was effusive about the possibilities and perks of independent labor. As part of a pseudo-treatise on why the “Independent Work Boom [Is] Good for the U.S. Economy,” Zaino made the case that many independents self-select into these professions as they pursue the well-worn entrepreneurial ideals of “controlling my own schedule,” “more flexibility,” “being my own boss,” and “doing what I love.” — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love, 508

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Flexible gig work shifts organizational risks onto individual workers — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 39; Worker flexibility often functions as a euphemism for precarity — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 571; Meritocratic framing blames workers for failing to profit from hope labor. — Brooke Erin Duffy, (Not) Getting Paid to Do What You Love:…, 764 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Gig-economy liberation rhetoric masks new and deeper labor exploitation #exemplifies (0.92) — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, 225
• Self-branding exercises frame profit-seeking as the discovery of an authentic self. #exemplifies (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 496
• Tech status requires wealth expressed through idealistic, non-flashy self-improvement #expands (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 179
• Silicon Valley’s self-image elevates entrepreneurship as society’s universal problem-solving model #expands (0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 713