Ashique Ali T

Kudumbashree's Lunch Bell project and digital solidarity economy in Kerala, India This study examines the Lunch Bell project, a state-supported, women-centred meal delivery platform in Kerala, India, embodying a digital solidarity economy that promotes sustainability and addresses ...

See our article here ; policyreview.info/articles/ana...

However, as Kudumbashree demonstrates, by continuously relearning from and refining its own experiences, it is striving to craft an alternative economic model, working alongside the state to challenge the dominance of neoliberal capital.

Kudumbashree cannot be expected to achieve a flawless launch in the digital economy, nor can it absorb prolonged losses, even with state support. (Unlike venture capital, state cannot simply throw in money with a focus on valuations; its investments are subject to pub finance audits).

Formations such as Kudumabshree is neither a coop nor self-help group (drawing on Grohmann 2023). We argue that it is best understood as a vital component of Kerala’s social solidarity economy, mobilizing participatory citizenship through collaboration with local governance and the state.

These concerns shaped the dev of operational design & workflow. This case also offered us a way to think through the contested identity of Kudumbashree and the role state can play in fostering/supporting digital solidarity economies.

Lunch Bell project directly addresses many of these concerns. For eg, it considered weight of the lunchboxes, recognized that many riders lacked digital literacy, & for first-time women riders, balancing the bike with digital navigation was a challenge.

We explored this case bcs even as food business sector expands through corporate digital labor platforms, food delivery work remains heavily male-dominated. The gender-neutral designs of these platforms often treat men’s experiences as the norm, overlooking the lived realities of women.

Kudumbashree, a women-led community network, mobilizes over 4.8 million members in Kerala, India. In 2024, they launched the Lunch Bell project, where meals prepared in centralized kitchens using locally sourced ingredients are delivered in reusable steel containers by women workers on wheels.

Introduction to the special issue on Digital Solidarity Economies This introduction situates Digital Solidarity Economies (DSE) as an analytical and practical framework for reimagining the digital economy through cooperation, mutual aid, and shared ownership.

See the intro to the issue here : policyreview.info/articles/ana....

Kudumbashree's Lunch Bell project and digital solidarity economy in Kerala, India This study examines the Lunch Bell project, a state-supported, women-centred meal delivery platform in Kerala, India, embodying a digital solidarity economy that promotes sustainability and addresses ...

Our work "Kudumbashree's Lunch Bell project and digital solidarity economy in Kerala, India" (with @prch.bsky.social & Fibin Filal) is published in the special issue on digital solidarity economies etd by María Belén Albornoz, @ricardespelt.bsky.social, @grohmannrafael.bsky.social & Denise Kasparian

Transversal Unionism: Resisting and Navigating a Neoliberal City Through Identity and Labour Power Digital labour platform (DLP) workers and migrant workers represent two distinct yet often intersecting categories of labour shaped by India’s rapid urbanization and replication of the Silicon V...

Interesting article about solidarity between software workers and gig workers in Bengaluru - shows in detail how shared migration experiences can serve as a ground for inter-class organizing. By @dipsitadhar.bsky.social, @ashiquealit.bsky.social, S. Bhattacharya: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Glad to have presented our ongoing work on digital solidarity economy (with Priyank Chandra), gigfluencers (with Dipsita) & platforms and climate change (Hiu Fung & Kaushar Mahetaji) at INDL 8 in Bologna. It was a wonderful experience engaging with digital labour scholars and trade unionists.

Climate refugees from Bangladesh face a political storm in India Bangladeshi climate migrants face political storm in India

India and Bangladesh do not officially recognise refugees under international law, as neither country has signed the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention. @soulrestless.bsky.social Kanika Gupta write about undocumented Bangladeshi migrants

A very valuable meeting point in academic journey.

Team 'platform without borders'

Thank you @jamesmuldoon.bsky.social, @grohmannrafael.bsky.social, @andretwp.bsky.social & Denise Kasparian for putting this together.

A room full of people

Brilliant people at the Platforms without borders workshop in London #Space4 #platforms thank you @jamesmuldoon.bsky.social for the wonderful hosting and @grohmannrafael.bsky.social @linzhang.bsky.social Denise Kasparian @marcsteinberg.bsky.social

For more, please see the paper. dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

c) and collective action centered around regeneration & care for the city & collective life under capitalism.

We conceptualise “generative politics” as a commitment to sustaining collective life and care under precarious conditions–a form of political action that resists through regeneration.

With Kolkata's gig union, we identify a) “generative” attitude or orientation towards political action that focuses on creating material & immaterial resources; b) political action beyond protest politics that contributes to organic solidarity

Our study also diverges from tight and orthodox articulations of unions to show how their roles and capabilities can and often do extend beyond protests and strikes to also engage in the work of rebuilding the wider communities where they exist. Union do more than protest, protest, protest.

Alternative imaginations & designs of socio-technical infrastructures need not always be complex or technically or monetarily intensive. Rather, relatively lean technical infrastructure can be combined with innovative forms of social cooperation to regenerate essential infrastructures.

During COVID-19, when Uber/Ola's operations collapsed, Kolkata’s gig worker union launched emergency transport & taxi ambulances. We explore how they curated innovation and adaptations in tech-mediated networked organising, & its implications for tech design & worker organizing.

Generative Politics and Labour Markets: Unions and Collective Life in a City in Crisis | Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Union’s Care: They have designs for alternative socio-technical infrastructure & can regenerate the market, community & the city when in crisis.

Happy to share our #CHI2025 paper!

"Generative Politics and Labour Markets: Unions and Collective Life in a City in Crisis"

dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

Hello Toronto,

Join us for the talk by prof. Aakash Gautam on community-based design projects.

March 21, 11.00am-1.00pm, Faculty of Information, UofT

Sociology world mourns after hit-and-run driver on Grand Avenue kills legendary labor scholar Michael Burawoy was struck while walking inside the crosswalk near Children’s Fairyland.

We mourn the sudden loss of Michael Burawoy--eminent scholar, mentor, and friend to the labor movement. oaklandside.org/2025/02/05/s...

24-01-1925 SENEGAL: Beginning of a 4-day strike in the Dakar-Niger Railways for a wage increase benefiting both African and European workers.

DeepfakesTracker.org FAQs A primer on deepfakes. What they are, how they are made, and why they are a threat to democracies.

Like bots, deepfakes are part of the online landscape. Here's our primer on deepfakes. What they are, how they are made, and why they threaten democratic societies. deepfakestracker.org/deepfakes-fa... #medialiteracy

Google Hired Gig Economy Workers to Improve Artificial Intelligence in Controversial Drone-Targeting Project As part of Project Maven, Google's artificial intelligence program for military drones, the tech giant hired unwitting “crowd workers” through Figure Eight.

"For Project Maven, Google hired hundreds of gig-economy workers to solve numerous CAPTCHAs at an incredibly low cost (roughly $1/hour).

The results of these completed CAPTCHAs were then used to develop a classification program for the use of US Military drone applications"

Workers had no idea

Drivers for Spanish food delivery app Glovo will become full-time employees Thousands of delivery drivers in Spain working for the food delivery app Glovo will soon be full employees after the company announced that it was moving to an employment-based model

abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Thanks to @dipsitadhar.bsky.social for leading this camp.

Gig workers in Delhi suffer immensely from heightened air pollution, crossing even 1000 AQI. We conducted a health camp in Delhi for the gig & outdoor workers. Indian Govt should act to protect workers from climate crisis as well as make corporate platforms accountable.