Ashique Ali Thuppilikkat

Ashique Ali Thuppilikkat (He/Him) is a PhD student at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, Canada. His research examines the role of technology in worker resistance and unionization amid the platformization of urban life. He investigates how climate change and environmental risks—such as heatwaves and air pollution—intensify labour precarity for workers on location-based digital labour platforms (DLPs) in India. In collaboration with worker unions in Indian cities, his project aims to co-design tools that support data-driven advocacy for equitable labour policies. Ashique is the recipient of the Connaught PhDs for Public Impact Fellowship (2025–26) and the SDG UofT Student Award (2024–25). He was previously a Graduate Fellow at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities (2023–24) and is the co-founder of SAFAR, a research-action centre based in West Bengal, India.