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Consent and Contestation: How Platform Workers Reckon with the Risks of Gig Labor

Author

Listed:
  • Juliet B Schor

    (Boston College, USA)

  • Christopher Tirrell

    (Northeastern University, USA)

  • Steven Peter Vallas

    (Northeastern University, USA)

Abstract

How do gig workers respond to the various financial, physical, and legal risks their work entails? Answers to this question have remained unclear, largely because previous studies have overlooked structurally induced variations in the experience of platform work. In this article, we develop a theory of differential embeddedness to explain why workers’ orientations toward the risks of gig work vary. We argue further that because platforms define themselves merely as mediators of exchanges between workers and customers, they systematically expose workers to various forms of customer malfeasance, ranging from fraud and tip baiting to harassment and assault. We develop this perspective using interviews with 70 workers in the ride-hail, grocery shopping, and food delivery sectors. The structure of labor platforms indirectly invites workers to exhibit distinct normative orientations toward the risks that gig work entails while also multiplying the sources of these risks.

Suggested Citation

  • Juliet B Schor & Christopher Tirrell & Steven Peter Vallas, 2024. "Consent and Contestation: How Platform Workers Reckon with the Risks of Gig Labor," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1423-1444, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:38:y:2024:i:5:p:1423-1444
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170231199404
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Michael David Maffie, 2020. "The Role of Digital Communities in Organizing Gig Workers," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 123-149, January.
    5. Peter James Holtum & Elnaz Irannezhad & Greg Marston & Renuka Mahadevan, 2022. "Business or Pleasure? A Comparison of Migrant and Non-Migrant Uber Drivers in Australia," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(2), pages 290-309, April.
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