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    Embodied Precariat and Digital Control in the “Gig Economy”: The Mobile Labor of Food Delivery Workers

    Popan, Cosmin (2021) Embodied Precariat and Digital Control in the “Gig Economy”: The Mobile Labor of Food Delivery Workers. Journal of Urban Technology. pp. 1-20. ISSN 1063-0732

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    Abstract

    The promises of flexible work and instant deliveries promoted through food delivery apps are one of the latest trends within the “gig economy” and lay at the forefront of smart city agendas. This article focuses on the work undertaken by Deliveroo couriers to investigate how they embody, negotiate, and contest the “smartness” of the platform. Drawing on ethnographic research in London and Manchester, analysis of internal online communication, and interviews with workers, the article examines how competing understandings of “smartness” emerge in response to algorithmic management in the workplace. This paper conceptualizes two distinctive yet overlapping attitudes among couriers—entrepreneurialism and solidarity—and discusses their implications for the future of platform work.

    Item Type: Article
    Peer-reviewed: Yes
    Date Deposited: 06 Jan 2022 09:59
    Publisher: Informa UK Limited
    Additional Information: This is an Open Access article published in Journal of Urban Technology.
    Divisions: Faculties > Arts and Humanities
    Research Centres > Research Centre for Applied Social Sciences
    Subject terms: Social Sciences, Urban Studies, gig economy, cycling, Deliveroo, digital activism, bicycle couriers, SOCIAL MEDIA, POLITICS, MOVEMENT, SOFTWARE, Urban & Regional Planning, 1202 Building, 1205 Urban and Regional Planning, 1604 Human Geography
    URI: https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/628915
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10630732.2021.2001714
    ISSN 1063-0732
    e-ISSN 1466-1853

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