The digital economy and related transitions in the workplace bear significant implications for democracy. During the Geneva Democracy Week, the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy hosted a roundtable on Work in transition: digital economy and its implications for democracy. The roundtable was opened by the Centre’s Executive Director, Christine Lutringer, and organised and moderated by Research fellow, Maria Mexi. It tackled key questions concerning how the digital revolution is altering the way that people view and perform work, and their implications on democratic governance, representation and rights. 

A multidisciplinary panel of experts from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Research for Social Development (UNRISD) as well as researchers and academics from the Graduate Institute and the Universities of Parma, Bern, and Geneva, presented insights, ideas, and recommendations on building more inclusive labour markets that provide dignified and sustainable livelihoods in an age of uncertainty. 

As stressed by Azita Berar Awad, Former Director at the ILO Employment Policy Department and Chair of the Board, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, in her opening keynote speech: “Work transitions, social contracts and democracy raise complex set of questions that interact in multiple ways.” As a result, it is becoming more and more difficult “to do justice to the array of conceptual and analytic issues implied, nor to give many examples of the diversity of realities lived in different parts of the world and by different groups of people”, continued Ms Berar Awad. 

The discussion was framed around challenges, good examples and key actions points. Filipe Calvao, Associate Professor at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology of Development of the Graduate Institute Geneva, presented the considerable challenges pertaining to the extensive influence algorithms now have over our working lives. Up until now, algorithms have been deployed with relatively little oversight. It may be time for that to change. How can workers take control of algorithms and what forms of innovation or creativity are generated by human engagement with this digital artifact? Responding to these challenges is currently one of the most urgent questions, argued Filipe Calvao. 

Kostas Papadakis, Senior Social Dialogue and Governance Specialist at the International Labour Organization, described how digital platforms are now challenging traditional labour relations and social dialogue structures. With platforms operating across multiple jurisdictions, global social dialogue, coordinated action and policies that get inspiration from the ILO Maritime Labour Convention, are needed to ensure they provide decent work, he stressed. But policies and frameworks are not neutral; they can have strong exclusionary or inclusionary impact. The interlinkages between exclusionary labour practices, democracy and citizenship were effectively raised in the discussion by Simone Baglioni, Professor at Department of Economics and Management, University of Parma. “There is no democracy without citizenship, but if you are a foreign worker or an immigrant, joining the labour market informally, your capacity to act as  citizen is dramatically reduced’’, he argued. Therefore, it is high time to acknowledge the big picture and to react not only against the negative economic implications of informal labour, but also against the damages to democracies informal labour markets are causing, pointed out Simone Baglioni. 

Finally, the need to strengthen the digital social economy and the international movement toward more cooperative platforms in a time when notions and accompanied institutions related to competition, regulation and social dialogue are being challenged and transformed, was highlighted by Samuel Brülisauer, Doctoral Student at the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern. This line of argument was picked up by Alexandre Hedjazi, Director of the Global Environmental Policy Program and Scientific Deputy to Vice-Rector for Sustainable Development at the University of Geneva, who unveiled the powerful connections between the debate on the future of living and the future of work among academia, policy actors, and the media. To reinforce inclusion in remote workforces we need to reimagine urban citizenship spaces, he said presenting concrete ideas and innovations driving change. Ultimately, a bigger cognitive and structural change crossing different areas and connecting multiple struggles for fairer and more sustainable societies, is needed. As Ms Award Berar concluded, from different corners, calls abound to “revisit” and  “renew” the “social contract. 

Watch the full discussion here:

Read the full keynote speech delivered by Ms Azita Berar Awad here

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