IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v56y2024i4p1280-1297.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Betwixt and between: Triple liminality and liminal agency in the Swedish gig economy

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Weidenstedt

    (The Ratio Institute, Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Andrea Geissinger

    (Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA)

  • Birgit Leick

    (University of Southeastern Norway, Bø, Norway)

  • Nabeel Nazeer

    (Independent researcher, Stockholm, Sweden)

Abstract

In this paper, we identify when and why migrant gig workers experience liminality in the socio-spatial context of food delivery in the Swedish gig economy. We analyse qualitative interviews and informal conversations with food delivery workers in Stockholm through the lens of the territory-place-scale-network (TPSN) framework as developed by Bob Jessop, Neil Brenner and Martin Jones. We find that workers are challenged to deal with triple liminality regarding their work identities , workplaces and work organisation through platforms. Focusing on liminality as a central aspect of gig work, we further find that despite having little worker agency, some of the study participants engage in what we call liminal agency , that is actively pursuing possibilities for progress in uncertain states of in-betweenness. By unpacking the liminal dynamics that especially migrant food delivery riders are confronted with in their daily working lives, this study contributes to the debate on the migrant gig economy, the spatial turn in organisation studies and efforts from human geography to understand agency in precarious gig work.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Weidenstedt & Andrea Geissinger & Birgit Leick & Nabeel Nazeer, 2024. "Betwixt and between: Triple liminality and liminal agency in the Swedish gig economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(4), pages 1280-1297, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:56:y:2024:i:4:p:1280-1297
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X231172984
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X231172984
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X231172984?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Byron Miller & Jason Ponto, 2016. "Mobility Among the Spatialities," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 106(2), pages 266-273, March.
    2. Mohammad Amir Anwar & Mark Graham, 2020. "Hidden transcripts of the gig economy: labour agency and the new art of resistance among African gig workers," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(7), pages 1269-1291, October.
    3. Charlotta Hedberg & Irma Olofsson, 2022. "Negotiating the Wild West: Variegated neoliberalisation of the Swedish labour migration regime and the wild berry migration industry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 54(1), pages 33-49, February.
    4. Ola Henfridsson & Youngjin Yoo, 2014. "The Liminality of Trajectory Shifts in Institutional Entrepreneurship," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 932-950, June.
    5. Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy & Anna Roberts & Le Xu, 2022. "Liminal movement by digital platform‐based sharing economy ventures: The case of Uber Technologies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 447-475, March.
    6. François-Xavier de Vaujany & Boukje Cnossen & Stefan Haefliger, 2020. "The street and organization studies," Post-Print hal-02638990, HAL.
    7. Ngai Keung Chan & Lee Humphreys, 2018. "Mediatization of Social Space and the Case of Uber Drivers," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(2), pages 29-38.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhewei Zhang & Youngjin Yoo & Kalle Lyytinen & Aron Lindberg, 2021. "The Unknowability of Autonomous Tools and the Liminal Experience of Their Use," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(4), pages 1192-1213, December.
    2. 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.
    3. Byron Miller & Samuel Mössner, 2020. "Urban sustainability and counter-sustainability: Spatial contradictions and conflicts in policy and governance in the Freiburg and Calgary metropolitan regions," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(11), pages 2241-2262, August.
    4. Tobias Kretschmer & Aija Leiponen & Melissa Schilling & Gurneeta Vasudeva, 2022. "Platform ecosystems as meta‐organizations: Implications for platform strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 405-424, March.
    5. Oscar Lage & María Saiz-Santos & José Manuel Zarzuelo, 2022. "Decentralized platform economy: emerging blockchain-based decentralized platform business models," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(3), pages 1707-1723, September.
    6. André Jansson & Johan Lindell, 2018. "Media Studies for a Mediatized World: Rethinking Media and Social Space," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(2), pages 1-4.
    7. Hannan Amoozad Mahdiraji & Fatemeh Yaftiyan & Aliasghar Abbasi-Kamardi & Vahid Jafari-Sadeghi & Jean-Michel Sahut & Leo-Paul Dana, 2023. "A synthesis of boundary conditions with adopting digital platforms in SMEs: an intuitionistic multi-layer decision-making framework," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 1723-1751, October.
    8. Jialei Li & Wei Wang, 2024. "From Renting Economy to Sharing Economy: How Do Bike-Sharing Platforms Grow in the Digital Era?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 8097-8117, June.
    9. Alexander Brem & Petra A. Nylund & Saeed Roshani, 2024. "Unpacking the complexities of crisis innovation: a comprehensive review of ecosystem-level responses to exogenous shocks," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(8), pages 2441-2464, August.
    10. Shouheng Sun & Shengjie Dong & Qi Wu & Xuejiao Tian, 2023. "How to Survive in the Shadow of Sharing Economy Giants: Business Model Innovation for Small and Medium-Sized Platforms," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, September.
    11. Tianyu Deng & Limeng Qiao & Xun Yao & Shuangying Chen & Xiaowo Tang, 2022. "A Profit Framework Model for Digital Platforms Based on Value Sharing and Resource Complementarity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, September.
    12. Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy & Anna Roberts & Le Xu, 2022. "Liminal movement by digital platform‐based sharing economy ventures: The case of Uber Technologies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 447-475, March.
    13. Camaren Peter, 2021. "Social Innovation for Sustainable Urban Developmental Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging Economic Ecosystems and the Entrepreneurial State," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-19, June.
    14. Mina Nasiri & Minna Saunila & Juhani Ukko & Tero Rantala & Hannu Rantanen, 2023. "Shaping Digital Innovation Via Digital-related Capabilities," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 1063-1080, June.
    15. Julian Lehmann & Jan Recker, 2022. "Offerings That are “Ever-in-the-Making”," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 64(1), pages 69-89, February.
    16. Schneckenberg, Dirk & Roth, Steffen & Velamuri, Vivek K., 2023. "Deparadoxification and value focus in sharing ventures: Concealing paradoxes in strategic decision-making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    17. Ludger Gailing & Andrea Bues & Kristine Kern & Andreas Röhring, 2020. "Socio-spatial dimensions in energy transitions: Applying the TPSN framework to case studies in Germany," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(6), pages 1112-1130, September.
    18. Danielle Logue & Matthew Grimes, 2022. "Platforms for the people: Enabling civic crowdfunding through the cultivation of institutional infrastructure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 663-693, March.
    19. Gailing, Ludger & Bues, Andrea & Kern, Kristine & Röhring, Andreas, 2019. "Socio-spatial dimensions in energy transitions: Applying the TPSN framework to case studies in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 52(6), pages 1112-1130.
    20. Niilo Noponen & Polina Feshchenko & Tommi Auvinen & Vilma Luoma-aho & Pekka Abrahamsson, 2024. "Taylorism on steroids or enabling autonomy? A systematic review of algorithmic management," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 74(3), pages 1695-1721, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:56:y:2024:i:4:p:1280-1297. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.