Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn is a labor geographer whose work engages with issues at the intersection of labor, technology, and alternatives to capitalism. He is the founder and director of the Just Economy and Labor Institute (JELI), a nonprofit organization focused on empowering platform workers through strategic research and movement-building in Southeast Asia. His expertise has been forged through 15 years of Southeast Asian and international solidarity activism and movement building. In addition, he combines advanced social science and strategic corporate research with social justice facilitation. Since founding JELI in 2018, he has led action research and empowerment projects with grassroots, migrant, and platform workers, culminating in the formation of a platform worker movement in Thailand. Teerakowitkajorn is also a coproducer and cohost of the Asian Labour Review podcast, The Continent of Resistance, focusing on fostering collective power within the labor community throughout Asia. Born and raised in Thailand, Teerakowitkajorn is a Thai American of Teochew Chinese descent.

Project Description

Kriangsak Teerakowitkajorn’s project aims to empower and build a solidarity network of platform workers in Asia. Through participatory action research and peer group exchanges, this project is designed to build collective power among workers, foster regional solidarity, and advocate for workers’ rights among policymakers. Anticipated outcomes include heightened visibility of the platform workers’ movement, increased influence in policy discussions, and the establishment of a formal coalition in Asia, ultimately contributing to a more just labor environment in the region.