Julietta Hua and Kasturi Ray wrote Spent Behind the Wheel: Drivers’ Labor in the Uber Economy after observing a correlation between the boom of the tech industry and the growing wealth inequality in the Bay Area following the 2007 – 2008 financial crisis. SF State’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and George and Judy Marcus Funds provided grants to support the book.

“We have seen, to our dismay, the growth of gig workers being drawn from populations that are historically marginalized,” Ray said. “The work conditions under the new gig economy were not that new after all. It is something that racialized men have experienced in the U.S. throughout history.”

Deeply rooted stereotypes persist about the danger of the immigrant male driver transporting other people, they found.

Article at SF State News.