{"title":"Control of the Platform Reserve Army: The Roles of the State and Capital in China's Platform Economy","authors":"Wei Zhang, Hao Qi, Zhongjin Li","doi":"10.1521/siso.2023.87.4.502","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The rise of digital platforms has formed a platform reserve army. The platform reserve army is the stagnant reserve army of contemporary digital capitalism, which brings challenges to labor control. Using data collected from an original survey of over 600 ride-hailing drivers in two Chinese cities, the roles of the state and capital, as well as their interactions in shaping capital's control over the platform reserve army in China, are clarified. Against the backdrop of the state's market-formalization policy, ride-hailing platforms have aligned with third-party rental companies that provide qualified vehicles. The platform-rental company alliance has effectively trapped a significant share of drivers to maintain an adequate and stable labor supply. Given their capacity to manipulate and restructure the reserve army, platforms have capitalized on the state's regulations to strengthen their control over labor.","PeriodicalId":46181,"journal":{"name":"Science & Society","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Science & Society","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1521/siso.2023.87.4.502","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The rise of digital platforms has formed a platform reserve army. The platform reserve army is the stagnant reserve army of contemporary digital capitalism, which brings challenges to labor control. Using data collected from an original survey of over 600 ride-hailing drivers in two Chinese cities, the roles of the state and capital, as well as their interactions in shaping capital's control over the platform reserve army in China, are clarified. Against the backdrop of the state's market-formalization policy, ride-hailing platforms have aligned with third-party rental companies that provide qualified vehicles. The platform-rental company alliance has effectively trapped a significant share of drivers to maintain an adequate and stable labor supply. Given their capacity to manipulate and restructure the reserve army, platforms have capitalized on the state's regulations to strengthen their control over labor.
期刊介绍：
Appearing quarterly since 1936, Science & Society is the longest continuously published Marxist scholarly journal in the world. Its intellectual coverage includes social and political theory, first-order historical research, economics, philosophy, theoretical foundations in the natural sciences, literature, and the arts. In both general issues, and special issues devoted to particular topics, the journal provides serious analysis of the contemporary human condition and visions of social alternatives, and contributes to the continuing critical redevelopment of the Marxist tradition.
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