Appropriation of the General Intellect: Amazon warehouses in Greater Mexico City

José Cerón

Chapter 6 in Unpacking Global Amazon, 2026, pp 158-181 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter examines how Amazon Mexico appropriates workers’ General Intellect—socially acquired technological skills from everyday life—to reinforce labor control in fulfillment centers. Drawing on ethnographic research in Mexico City warehouses, it reveals how gamified training, algorithmic management, and the strategic hiring of digitally fluent but low-wage workers externalize training costs while intensifying productivity. Contrary to narratives of digital emancipation, the study demonstrates that in peripheral economies like Mexico, the General Intellect becomes a tool for capital to exploit informal knowledge, normalize surveillance, and sustain precarious work under the guise of technological modernization. By analyzing three dimensions of appropriation (hiring profiles, gamification, and skill re-qualification), the chapter argues that platform capitalism repurposes collective social knowledge to deepen labor fragmentation and control, rather than empower workers.

Keywords: General Intellect; Precarious Work; Gamification; Algorithmic Control; Amazon; Platform Capitalism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035380442
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