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Riders on the Storm: Workplace Solidarity among Gig Economy Couriers in Italy and the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Arianna Tassinari

    (University of Warwick, UK)

  • Vincenzo Maccarrone

    (University College Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

In light of the individualisation, dispersal and pervasive monitoring that characterise work in the ‘gig economy’, the development of solidarity among gig workers could be expected to be unlikely. However, numerous recent episodes of gig workers’ mobilisation require reconsideration of these assumptions. This article contributes to the debate about potentials and obstacles for solidarity in the changing world of work by showing the processes through which workplace solidarity among gig workers developed in two cases of mobilisation of food delivery platform couriers in the UK and Italy. Through the framework of labour process theory, the article identifies the sources of antagonism in the app-mediated model of work organisation and the factors that facilitated and hindered the consolidation of active solidarity and the emergence of collective action among gig workers. The article emphasises the centrality of workers’ agential practices in overcoming constraints to solidarity and collective action, and the diversity of forms through which solidarity can be expressed in hostile work contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Arianna Tassinari & Vincenzo Maccarrone, 2020. "Riders on the Storm: Workplace Solidarity among Gig Economy Couriers in Italy and the UK," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(1), pages 35-54, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:1:p:35-54
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017019862954
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Paul Thompson & Diane van den Broek, 2010. "Managerial control and workplace regimes: an introduction," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 24(3), pages 1-12, September.
    2. Michelle O'Sullivan & Thomas Turner, 2013. "Facilitators and Inhibitors of Collective Action: A Case Study of a US-Owned Manufacturing Plant," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(4), pages 689-708, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marie Nilsen & Trond Kongsvik & Stian Antonsen, 2022. "Taming Proteus: Challenges for Risk Regulation of Powerful Digital Labor Platforms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Sidney A. Rothstein, 2022. "How workers mobilize in financializing firms: A theory of discursive opportunism," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(1), pages 57-77, March.
    3. Paul Edwards & Andy Hodder, 2022. "Conflict and control in the contemporary workplace: Structured antagonism revisited," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 220-240, May.
    4. Popan, Cosmin & Anaya-Boig, Esther, 2021. "The intersectional precarity of platform cycle delivery workers," SocArXiv tk6v8, Center for Open Science.
    5. Adam DK King, 2021. "A Feminist Political Economy Critique of ‘the Militant Minority’," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(3), pages 584-594, June.
    6. Damian Grimshaw & Marcela Miozzo, 2021. "Human Capital and productivity: a call for new interdisciplinary research," Working Papers 006, The Productivity Institute.
    7. McDaid, Emma & Andon, Paul & Free, Clinton, 2023. "Algorithmic management and the politics of demand: Control and resistance at Uber," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Christina Purcell & Paul Brook, 2022. "At Least I’m My Own Boss! Explaining Consent, Coercion and Resistance in Platform Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(3), pages 391-406, June.
    9. Dominika Polkowska, 2021. "Unionisation and mobilisation within platform work: towards precarisation—a case of Uber drivers in Poland," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 25-39, January.
    10. Paolo Borghi & Annalisa Murgia & Mathilde Mondon-Navazo & Petr Mezihorak, 2021. "Mind the gap between discourses and practices: Platform workers’ representation in France and Italy," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 27(4), pages 425-443, December.
    11. Won, Jongho & Lee, Daeho & Lee, Junmin, 2023. "Understanding experiences of food-delivery-platform workers under algorithmic management using topic modeling," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    12. Tom Barratt & Caleb Goods & Alex Veen, 2020. "‘I’m my own boss…’: Active intermediation and ‘entrepreneurial’ worker agency in the Australian gig-economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(8), pages 1643-1661, November.
    13. David Courpasson & Dima Younès & Michael Ivor Reed, 2021. "Durkheim in the Neoliberal Organization : Taking Resistance and Solidarity Seriously," Post-Print hal-03273207, HAL.
    14. Tan, Zhi Ming & Aggarwal, Nikita & Cowls, Josh & Morley, Jessica & Taddeo, Mariarosaria & Floridi, Luciano, 2021. "The ethical debate about the gig economy: A review and critical analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Behl, Abhishek & Jayawardena, Nirma & Ishizaka, Alessio & Gupta, Manish & Shankar, Amit, 2022. "Gamification and gigification: A multidimensional theoretical approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1378-1393.
    16. Trang Thi Quynh Dinh & Janne Tienari, 2022. "Brothers and broken dreams: Men, masculinity, and emotions in platform capitalism," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 609-625, March.
    17. Valeria Cirillo & Dario Guarascio & Zachary Parolin, 2021. "Platform Work and Economic Insecurity: Evidence from Representative Italian Survey Data," Working Papers in Public Economics 208, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.

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