Digital Precarity and Gig Labour in Samit Basu’s Chosen Spirits

I’m undertaking a close reading of Samit Basu’s novel “Chosen Spirits” and want to zero-in on how the book depicts digital precarity and gig labour from a social perspective. The task is to produce a well-argued, properly referenced piece that shows how Basu’s imagined near-future Delhi captures the human consequences of platform work, constant surveillance, and algorithmic control. Your analysis should foreground social impact—how characters’ sense of community, belonging, and everyday relationships shift under precarious, app-mediated employment. Feel free to draw on themes such as family tensions, neighbourhood interactions, or the growing risk of social isolation—whichever passages best illustrate the broader societal toll of gig economies. Acceptance criteria • Clear thesis that links digital precarity to at least two concrete social repercussions in the novel • Close textual evidence from “Chosen Spirits” and, where relevant, supporting scholarship on gig labour or South-Asian speculative fiction • Logical structure, polished prose, and proper citation style throughout If you’re excited by contemporary Indian SFF and have a solid grounding in labour studies or cultural criticism, I’d love to read your pitch and get started soon.

Project ID: 40292803