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Digital platforms and workers on demand: contradictions, conflicts and processes of (counter) subjectivation. Inquiry with riders in Turin
Journal Title: SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO  
Author/s: Daniela Leonardi 
Year:  2020 Issue: 158 Language: Italian 
Pages:  23 Pg. 199-221 FullText PDF:  355 KB
DOI:  10.3280/SL2020-158010
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This article contributes to the debate on digital platforms by focusing on the anal-ysis of the micro level, in order to understand the experiences of food delivery rid-ers with respect to macro-changes in the labour market. The reflection investigates the relationship between structural transformations and subjective experiences in the organizational model of digital platforms. The contribution is part of a wider research started in Turin (Italy) in 2016 and currently ongoing, conceived and car-ried out embracing what Alquati (1993) defined ‘co-research’. The article under-lines the centrality of conflicting practices by workers. The findings highlight among the triggering causes of antagonism towards management, the conflicts be-tween riders and companies, the contradiction between income and health, the tensions between autonomy and control. The research shows that what is at stake in the conflictual practices should not be understood as concerning merely regula-tory issues, but has to do with interpretative and political issues.
Keywords: Gig economy, inquiry, rider, Covid

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Daniela Leonardi, Digital platforms and workers on demand: contradictions, conflicts and processes of (counter) subjectivation. Inquiry with riders in Turin in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 158/2020, pp. 199-221, DOI:10.3280/SL2020-158010

   

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