Cross-Boundary Subsumption: Toward a Political Economy of Platform Labor

Abstract

The existing body of research on the platform economy provides a variety of interpretations of platform labor. Nevertheless, current studies have either placed exchange rather than production at the core of their interpretations or overlooked the historical continuity of the type of labor to which platform labor belongs. Employing a historical-comparative approach, this article introduces the concept of “cross-boundary subsumption” to illuminate the characteristics of platform labor. Drawing insights from investigations and interviews conducted on ride-hailing platforms in China from 2018 to 2020, this article delves into how cross-boundary subsumption works in reality. The goal is to improve the understanding of platform labor and uncover the limits of the current models of the platform economy.