The spatiality of collective action and organization among platform workers in Spain and Chile

Karol Morales-Muñoz and Beltran Roca
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Karol Morales-Muñoz: 16727Universidad de Cádiz, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Beltran Roca: 96908Universidad de Cádiz - Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

Environment and Planning A, 2022, vol. 54, issue 7, 1411-1431

Abstract: The expansion of the platform economy has altered the spatial organization of work and employment relations, leading to deregulation and eroding workers’ social power. However, despite the radical individualization and precarization of platform work, workers demonstrate agency. This article explores the political strategies employed by place-based platform workers, with a particular focus on the spatiality of their collective action. Using an ethnographic methodology, the article analyses the case studies of drivers’ trade associations in Chile and the couriers’ organization in Spain. The results show significant similarities between the two groups: (a) non-conventional forms of labour activism; (b) using social media to share experiences, foster solidarity and organize collectively; (c) organizing in large cities; (d) starting locally and progressing to higher scales, and (e) building national and international alliances. The article concludes that workers respond to the spatial organization of work by platforms in a multi-scalar way that is strongly influenced by both their imaginaries and the political and regulatory context.

Keywords: Platform workers; collective action; spatiality; socio-spatial relations; labour relations; geography of labour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:54:y:2022:i:7:p:1411-1431

DOI: 10.1177/0308518X221103262

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