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Sharing the liberal utopia. The case of Uber in France and the US

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  • Gruszka, Katarzyna
  • Novy, Andreas

Abstract

This article takes the case of Uber, a global platform specialized in transport technologies, to reappraise the claims of the sharing economy. The case presents a chronology of the struggles over the regulation of these digital markets in the US and France, using Uber's self-description and web discourse for additional illustrative purposes. It exposes Uber's business model, the key driving actors and their strategies as well as multi-scalar counter movements. The analysis is framed from a Hayekian and a Polanyian perspective, and the potential of the sharing economy to go beyond market fundamentalism. The Polanyian utopia of sharing as more than market relations based on self-interest is mobilized for legitimizing the platform. The Hayekian utopia of a market society which transforms social relations of friendship and community service into market activities is describing actual development. Finally, Polanyian "counter movements" are described and their potentials are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Gruszka, Katarzyna & Novy, Andreas, 2018. "Sharing the liberal utopia. The case of Uber in France and the US," SRE-Discussion Papers 2018/07, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wus009:6434
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    3. Sundararajan, Arun, 2016. "The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262034573, April.
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