Uneasy riders: contradictory disciplinary logics for an impossible job position

Abstract

In this research we analyze the disciplinary logics and existing forms of organizational control in food delivery under the platform economy. The working situation of couriers or “riders” represents a significant change in the ways this process is carried out and in the organizational logics that define their position. These workers are subjected to different disciplinary mechanisms to help ensure their good performance, through both algorithmic control and subjectivity management that discursively emphasizes flexibility and autonomy. This is precisely the disruptive factor in the labor environment that these platforms claim. However, the contradictory character of these disciplinary logics draws a situation that seems impossible, or at least quite difficult, to live, which turn them into uneasy riders.