//Access to the book “Cracking the future of work. Automation and labor platforms in the Global South”.

Developing countries face specific challenges that the standard literature has not yet managed to include as part of a truly global view on how technology and labor markets interact. This book aims to enrich the future of work debates with evidence from the Global South. This, in turn, is key for a policy agenda that needs context-specific and data-driven frameworks to promote the creation of high-quality jobs in developing countries amid the fourth industrial revolution.

The book covers two important topics. The section on automation brings fresh perspectives on relevant debates in the literature, such as the “hollowing out” phenomenon and whether the Global South is experiencing changes in employment patterns similar to those seen in the Global North due to technological change. The second section of the book is dedicated to labor platforms and analyzes how the diffusion of these new forms of work impacts workers in developing countries. Gender differences are analyzed cross-thematically across the book, showing how women tend to be worse prepared to face these trends. As the research agenda is still under construction, these pieces of research can be understood as raw material to kick-start a discussion that should continue to grow.

The event was hosted by Ramiro Albrieu, editor of the book and principal investigator of FoWiGS and CIPPEC’s Economic Development program, and feature authors Irene Brambilla (CEDLAS-UNLP), Rulof Burger(U.of Stellenbosch),Diego Aguilar (IEP), Pitso Tsibolane (Fairwork), and Urvashi Aneja (Digital Futures Lab). Along the conversation, the audience had the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts by the authors on their main findings and learn how to access the book.