“I genuinely hated that job.”
That was the line that made the audience laugh this summer in Nicosia, when I was presenting my auto-ethnographic research to scholars from around the world. For a few seconds, the room was light, laughter moving freely between us. But then I continued, only a few words further, and the air changed. Silence fell heavy. What I told them next, I will reveal later this academic year.

Imagine stepping out on a dark winter evening, dressed in your finest cashmere coat and silk scarf, taking one last satisfied glance in the mirror. Outside, a sleek car awaits. You walk towards it, open the glossy, tinted back door, and sink into a warm seat, bathed in ambient lighting. The air is tinged with the scent of fresh leather, and as you lift your gaze, a well-dressed driver greets you in your native language. A near-poetic experience!

Last October, I read Chernyshevsky’s What Is to Be Done? and, as often happens with books that require time to settle, I let it drift into the background of my mind. It resurfaced unexpectedly a few weeks ago when I was asked to give a lecture to master’s students on the meaning of work and the effects of digital transformation. Preparing for the lecture led me down a familiar path: back to my own master’s thesis, where I had explored the worth of platform-based gig work from the perspectives of employees and society.