Faced with platforms such as Uber, riders are resisting individually and organising actions such as Riders X Derechos in Spain. Some of these ‘new proletarians’ have even organised themselves into cooperatives. To the global utopia of investor-owned platforms, platform cooperativism opposes the utopia of delivery without exploitation or carbon emissions through local cooperatives owned by riders. Based on the case study of the Mensakas cooperative in Barcelona, this ethnography analyses the link between riders’ protests and cooperative platforms. It questions the concrete effects of ‘counter-platform politics’ and the relationship between politics and labour. It also examines the strategies of intercooperation in the ‘cyclelogistical’ sector to understand the institutional, social, and political conditions that foster the ‘re-embeddedness’ of the bike delivery market.
面对 Uber 这样的平台,乘客们正在单独进行反抗,并组织行动,如西班牙的 "乘客 X 权利"(Riders X Derechos)。其中一些 "新无产者 "甚至组织起了合作社。对于投资者拥有平台的全球乌托邦,平台合作主义反对通过乘客拥有的地方合作社实现无剥削、无碳排放的交付乌托邦。本民族志以巴塞罗那的 Mensakas 合作社为案例,分析了骑手抗议与合作平台之间的联系。它质疑了 "反平台政治 "的具体效果以及政治与劳动之间的关系。它还研究了 "自行车物流 "行业的合作战略,以了解促进自行车配送市场 "重新嵌入 "的制度、社会和政治条件。
{"title":"David against Goliath: from riders’ protest to platform cooperativism","authors":"Arthur Guichoux","doi":"10.1017/elr.2023.48","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/elr.2023.48","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Faced with platforms such as Uber, riders are resisting individually and organising actions such as Riders X Derechos in Spain. Some of these ‘new proletarians’ have even organised themselves into cooperatives. To the global utopia of investor-owned platforms, platform cooperativism opposes the utopia of delivery without exploitation or carbon emissions through local cooperatives owned by riders. Based on the case study of the Mensakas cooperative in Barcelona, this ethnography analyses the link between riders’ protests and cooperative platforms. It questions the concrete effects of ‘counter-platform politics’ and the relationship between politics and labour. It also examines the strategies of intercooperation in the ‘cyclelogistical’ sector to understand the institutional, social, and political conditions that foster the ‘re-embeddedness’ of the bike delivery market.","PeriodicalId":510106,"journal":{"name":"The Economic and Labour Relations Review","volume":"12 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139452301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Research on collective organisation of migrant platform workers is mostly concerned with ride-hailing and delivery logistics, where explicit forms of collective action have been visible. This paper addresses the issue of the self-organisation of migrant workers on cleaning platforms through a case study of Helpling cleaners in Berlin. In the paper, we ask why the attempts for organising workers have failed to scale up beyond the informal exchange of information and tactics among the workers. Our article argues that the spatial dispersion of work across the city, lack of occupational identity, and the legal framework of work, make worker organising difficult for cleaners in Berlin. Still, these factors do not lead to an absence of collective practices. Helpling workers in our study gather in online groups, can receive help and exchange in a community centre, and have been in touch with political groups. Based on the case study, the article discusses potentials and hurdles for the development of collective counter-power.
{"title":"Organising fragmented labour: the case of migrant workers at Helpling in Berlin","authors":"Valentin Niebler, Stefania Animento","doi":"10.1017/elr.2023.46","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/elr.2023.46","url":null,"abstract":"Research on collective organisation of migrant platform workers is mostly concerned with ride-hailing and delivery logistics, where explicit forms of collective action have been visible. This paper addresses the issue of the self-organisation of migrant workers on cleaning platforms through a case study of Helpling cleaners in Berlin. In the paper, we ask why the attempts for organising workers have failed to scale up beyond the informal exchange of information and tactics among the workers. Our article argues that the spatial dispersion of work across the city, lack of occupational identity, and the legal framework of work, make worker organising difficult for cleaners in Berlin. Still, these factors do not lead to an absence of collective practices. Helpling workers in our study gather in online groups, can receive help and exchange in a community centre, and have been in touch with political groups. Based on the case study, the article discusses potentials and hurdles for the development of collective counter-power.","PeriodicalId":510106,"journal":{"name":"The Economic and Labour Relations Review","volume":"21 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139175240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the article, we will explore the impact of platform labour on urban spaces and the new frontiers of unionism by leveraging a ground analysis and theoretical elaborations from the PLUS project. PLUS was designed to analyse the impact of four platforms (Uber, Airbnb, Helpling, and Deliveroo) in seven European cities (Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Lisbon, Paris, London, and Tallinn). In doing so, PLUS supported its sociological investigations with theoretical and historical elaborations concerning the operation of contemporary platforms and the characteristics of the new form of unionism. We will present some results from PLUS, with a focus on the Bologna case, where platform workers express their dissatisfaction with their organizations, attempting to relate their strategies to certain structural aspects of business territorialization within urban spaces. We will draw upon the well-known distinction proposed by Albert Hirschman between exit, voice, and loyalty and adapt it to frame the various strategies that platform workers may adopt.
在本文中,我们将通过 PLUS 项目的实地分析和理论阐述,探讨平台劳工对城市空间和工会主义新领域的影响。PLUS 项目旨在分析四个平台(Uber、Airbnb、Helpling 和 Deliveroo)在七个欧洲城市(巴塞罗那、柏林、博洛尼亚、里斯本、巴黎、伦敦和塔林)的影响。在此过程中,PLUS 通过对当代平台的运作和新形式工会的特点进行理论和历史阐述,支持其社会学调查。我们将介绍 PLUS 的一些成果,重点关注博洛尼亚的案例,其中平台工人表达了对其组织的不满,并试图将他们的策略与城市空间中商业地域化的某些结构方面联系起来。我们将借鉴阿尔伯特-赫希曼(Albert Hirschman)提出的退出、话语权和忠诚度之间的著名区别,并将其调整为平台工人可能采取的各种策略的框架。
{"title":"Exit, voice, and loyalty in the platform economy of Bologna city","authors":"Mattia Frapporti, Maurilio Pirone","doi":"10.1017/elr.2023.45","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/elr.2023.45","url":null,"abstract":"In the article, we will explore the impact of platform labour on urban spaces and the new frontiers of unionism by leveraging a ground analysis and theoretical elaborations from the PLUS project. PLUS was designed to analyse the impact of four platforms (Uber, Airbnb, Helpling, and Deliveroo) in seven European cities (Barcelona, Berlin, Bologna, Lisbon, Paris, London, and Tallinn). In doing so, PLUS supported its sociological investigations with theoretical and historical elaborations concerning the operation of contemporary platforms and the characteristics of the new form of unionism. We will present some results from PLUS, with a focus on the Bologna case, where platform workers express their dissatisfaction with their organizations, attempting to relate their strategies to certain structural aspects of business territorialization within urban spaces. We will draw upon the well-known distinction proposed by Albert Hirschman between exit, voice, and loyalty and adapt it to frame the various strategies that platform workers may adopt.","PeriodicalId":510106,"journal":{"name":"The Economic and Labour Relations Review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139224065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
O. Alyanak, C. Cant, Tatiana López Ayala, Adam Badger, Mark Graham
For migrant workers who do not have access to other means of income, the platform economy offers a viable yet exploitative alternative to the conventional labour market. Migrant workers are used as a source of cheap labour by platforms – and yet, they are not disempowered. They are at the heart of a growing platform worker movement. Across different international contexts, migrants have played a key role in leading strikes and other forms of collective action. This article traces the struggles of migrant platform workers in Berlin and London to explore how working conditions, work experiences, and strategies for collective action are shaped at the intersection of multiple precarities along lines of employment and migration status. Combining data collected through research by the Fairwork project with participant observation and ethnography, the article argues that migrant workers are more than an exploitable resource: they are harbingers of change.
{"title":"Platform work, exploitation, and migrant worker resistance: Evidence from Berlin and London","authors":"O. Alyanak, C. Cant, Tatiana López Ayala, Adam Badger, Mark Graham","doi":"10.1017/elr.2023.34","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/elr.2023.34","url":null,"abstract":"For migrant workers who do not have access to other means of income, the platform economy offers a viable yet exploitative alternative to the conventional labour market. Migrant workers are used as a source of cheap labour by platforms – and yet, they are not disempowered. They are at the heart of a growing platform worker movement. Across different international contexts, migrants have played a key role in leading strikes and other forms of collective action. This article traces the struggles of migrant platform workers in Berlin and London to explore how working conditions, work experiences, and strategies for collective action are shaped at the intersection of multiple precarities along lines of employment and migration status. Combining data collected through research by the Fairwork project with participant observation and ethnography, the article argues that migrant workers are more than an exploitable resource: they are harbingers of change.","PeriodicalId":510106,"journal":{"name":"The Economic and Labour Relations Review","volume":"54 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139254486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}