Dr Kelle Howson is a postdoctoral researcher on the Fairwork project. Kelle is a development geographer interested in how ethical certification is reshaping governance and power relations in global networks.
Dr Kelle Howson
Postdoctoral Researcher
- kelle.howson@oii.ox.ac.uk
- +44 (0)1865 287210
Profile
Dr Kelle Howson is a postdoctoral researcher on the Fairwork project at the Oxford Internet Institute.
Her background is in international development, globalisation and agriculture. Her research has examined the impact of ethical certification on power and governance in global agro-food networks. She received a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 2018. Her PhD thesis explored ethical certification and post-apartheid transformation in the South African wine industry, developing the concept of ethical value networks (EVeNs) to assess the extent to which certifications like Fairtrade contributed to more even development outcomes.
She also holds a Masters of Development Studies from Victoria University of Wellington, and her masters thesis examined the livelihood impact of Fairtrade certification for a coffee cooperative in Timor-Leste.
Her current work with the Fairwork Foundation explores and aims to improve labour standards for platform workers in South Africa. Building on her background in certification studies, Kelle is interested in the potential of interventions aimed at harnessing reflexive consumer power to improve working conditions.
Prior to taking up her current position Kelle served as a Senior Researcher in Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Leader’s Office in the New Zealand Parliament.
Research Interest
International development, globalisation, ethical certification, labour geographies, digital labour, Fairtrade, ethical value networks.
Position held at the OII
- Postdoctoral Researcher, October 2019 –
Chapters
- (2019) "Certified Utopia: Ethical branding and the wine industry of South Africa" In: Making New Worlds: The utopian potentials of wine and terroir Dutton, J. and Howland, P.J. (eds.). Routledge.
Journal articles
- (2021) "Digital platforms and institutional voids in developing countries: The case of ride-hailing markets", World Development. 145 105528.
- (2021) "Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic", International Labour Review.
- (2021) "Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic", International Labour Review.
- (2020) "‘Just because you don’t see your boss, doesn’t mean you don’t have a boss’: Covid19 and Gig Worker Strikes across Latin America", International Union Rights. 27 (3) 20-21.
- (2020) "(Dis)embeddedness and (de)commodification: COVID-19, Uber, and the unravelling logics of the gig economy", Dialogues in Human Geography. 10 (2) 203-207.
- (2020) "Thinking out of the Box: Fair work for Platform Workers", King's Law Journal. 31 (2) 236-249.
- (2020) "The Fairwork Foundation: Action Research on the Gig Economy", Global Dialogue.
- (2019) "Doing good by drinking wine? Ethical value networks and upscaling of wine production in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa", European Planning Studies. 27 (12) 2431-2449.
Reports
- Code of Good Practice for the Regulation of Platform Work in South Africa. Fairwork.
Internet publications
- (2019) Platform workers, the future of work and Britain’s election. Media@LSE.
- New Zealand’s Abortion Law Reform. Oxford Human Rights Hub.
News
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New Oxford report shows freelance and microwork platforms fail to provide minimum fairness standards for their global workforce
15 June 2021
Millions of people across the world now work remotely for freelance and microwork platforms, creating a largely invisible workforce, often based in low-income countries, that offer outsourcing services to international clients and help power AI systems.
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Uber’s Call for Change in Europe Shirks Responsibility while Highlighting Real Challenges say Fairwork researchers
17 February 2021
The Fairwork project based at the University of Oxford says Uber’s recent white paper on the regulation of gig work in Europe downplays the responsibility of platforms to improve conditions under existing legal frameworks.
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Fairwork Foundation announces Code of Good Practice to protect gig workers in South Africa
6 November 2020
The Fairwork Foundation, in collaboration with researchers and legal academics from the Universities of the Western Cape, Oxford, Cape Town, and Manchester, is launching a new Code of Good Practice for platform workers in South Africa.
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Report finds gig workers are among the most vulnerable groups in South Africa’s Covid-19 crisis
13 May 2020
A research report released today shows that those working in South Africa’s gig economy are falling through the cracks of government and private sector responses to Covid-19.
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New report finds gig economy companies must do more to protect workers during COVID-19
27 April 2020
A new report has shone a light on the plight of some 50 million gig economy workers across the world since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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General Election outcome crucial for millions of gig workers
4 December 2019
Researchers from Oxford University say the 2019 General Election is a critical moment for the economic and social wellbeing of the millions of workers in the UK’s “gig economy”.
Events
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Fairwork Cloudwork Ratings 2021: Labour Standards in the Cloudwork Economy
15 June 2021
We would like to invite you to this one-hour-long webinar in which we will present the main findings of the report and discuss the labour conditions in the global cloudwork economy with a panel of distinguished experts.
Blog
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Uber forced to recognise its drivers as workers, but falls short of offering Fair Pay and Representation
17 March 2021
Authors: Srujana Katta, Pablo Aguera, Ahkil Kumar, Funda Ustek Spilda, Kelle Howson, Matthew Cole, Fabian Ferrari, Alessio Bertolini, David Sutcliffe, Mark Graham
By Srujana Katta, Pablo Aguera, Akhil Kumar, Funda Ustek Spilda, Kelle Howson, Matthew Cole, Fabian Ferrari, Alessio Bertolini, David Sutcliffe, Mark Graham A month ...
Read More Uber forced to recognise its drivers as workers, but falls short of offering Fair Pay and Representation -
Fairwork announces Voluntary Scoring
14 May 2020
Authors: Dr Funda Ustek-Spilda, Mark Graham, Fabian Ferrari, Adam Badger, Srujana Katta, Kelle Howson, Dr Alessio Bertolini
Fairwork focuses on the major companies that use digital platforms to distribute piecemeal work to workers, in several countries. One of the questions we have been asked is whether platforms who are located outside our focus countries, or ...
Read More Fairwork announces Voluntary Scoring -
Second round of Fairwork’s yearly platform ratings in South Africa launched!
18 March 2020
Author: Sara Spinks
The Fairwork South Africa 2020 report highlights the precarious nature of work in the South African gig economy. This research is particularly timely in ...
Read More Second round of Fairwork’s yearly platform ratings in South Africa launched! -
Uber and Deliveroo’s ‘charter of good work’ is nothing but fairwashing
3 February 2020
Authors: Kelle Howson, Srujana Katta, Funda Ustek-Spilda, Mark Graham
Latest analysis on the gig economy from researchers Kelle Howson, Srujana Katta, Funda Ustek-Spilda and Professor Mark Graham, The authors work at the ...
Read More Uber and Deliveroo’s ‘charter of good work’ is nothing but fairwashing
Press
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Fairwork reaction to Uber decision to classify drivers as ‘workers’
18 March 2021 Sky News
Listen to Fairwork researcher Dr Kelle Howson unpacking Uber's new policy for UK drivers on Sky News
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Uber UK unions battle over waiting times
17 March 2021 Politico
Unions welcomed Uber's move to introduce a minimum earnings guarantee for its U.K. drivers — but they're less happy on when the company thinks a driver's shift will start and end.
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Ben Wray – Uber drivers are workers from the moment they log-in, UK Supreme Court rules
19 February 2021 Brave New Europe
The legal verdicts against Uber and for workers are mounting up across Europe. Its business model may not be able to survive this.
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How is the platform economy responding to COVID-19?
14 May 2020 Open Democracy
Although there is little evidence of ‘disaster capitalism’, ‘compassionate capitalism’ has been in rather short supply.
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If platforms do not protect gig workers, who will?
23 April 2020 New Internationalist
Coronavirus is showing that precarity and dangerous working conditions are a choice companies have been making for workers, not a necessary payoff for flexibility and independence, say Fairwork researchers.
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From Social Distancing to Social Solidarity: Gig economy and the Covid-19
27 March 2020 OECD Development Matters
The risks faced by members of the gig economy during the Covid-19 outbreak.
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The politics of Covid-19: Gig work in the coronavirus crisis
26 March 2020 red pepper
How long are we willing to turn a blind eye to the vulnerabilities of essential workers on the bottom of the employment hierarchy, asks the Fairwork Foundation.
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SA gig economy report: The truth about working for Uber-like companies
23 March 2020 Fast Company South Africa
Accounts from gig economy workers in South Africa and how technology impacts their experiences.
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SA gig workers may be vital, and yet vulnerable, during the pandemic
20 March 2020 Daily Maverick
Gig workers make up about 1% of SA’s workforce and many people in self-isolation or quarantine may start leaning heavily on their services.
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Impact of Covid-19 on the gig economy
20 March 2020 Cape Talk
Guest: Dr Kelle Howson | Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute
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Gig workers are at the front line of pandemic
19 March 2020 Mail & Guardian
The coronavirus pandemic will affect the most vulnerable groups in our society. That includes those in casual or insecure employment who face loss of income or exposure to the virus, and so need greater protection by governments.
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COVID-19 brings into sharp relief the risks faced by gig workers
19 March 2020 BBrief
South Africa’s current national state of disaster, and the uncertainty that has gripped the world, will especially impact the most vulnerable groups in our society including gig economy workers.
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The Untenable Luxury of Self-isolation
18 March 2020 New Internationalist
A coalition of gig economy researchers at Fairwork explain how gig workers are being hit hardest by COVID-19.
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South Africa’s COVID-19 crisis brings gig economy workers into sharper focus
18 March 2020 hypertext
What is being done to protect gig economy workers in South Africa during the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Why you should start talking to your Uber driver
1 March 2020 Daily Maverick
Next time you take an Uber, consider sitting in the front seat and asking your driver some questions.
Integrity Statement
I am currently a researcher on the Fairwork Project, which is financed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Economic and Social Research Council through the Global Challenges Research Fund (ES/S00081X/1). In the past five years, my work has been financially supported by New Zealand taxpayers, the New Zealand Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden Fund, and the New Zealand Aid Programme.
