Digital platforms and urban flows: dispersion and control of precarious work

The recent spread of digital platforms has produced new dynamics in the relationship between work and the city. The aim of this article is to analyze urban flows of app-based delivery workers in the São Paulo metropolis to explore empirically the conditions under which this work is inscribed in the...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fioravanti, Lívia Maschio, Martins, Felipe Rangel, Rizek, Cibele Saliba
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:Brasil
Institución:Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP)
Repositorio:Cadernos Metrópole (Online)
Idioma:portugués
inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/61235
Acceso en línea:https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/metropole/article/view/61235
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Digital Platforms
Work
Urban Flows
Control
Precariousness
Plataformas Digitais
Trabalho
Fluxos Urbanos
Controle
Precariedade
Descripción
Sumario:The recent spread of digital platforms has produced new dynamics in the relationship between work and the city. The aim of this article is to analyze urban flows of app-based delivery workers in the São Paulo metropolis to explore empirically the conditions under which this work is inscribed in the city. We argue that the dispersion of thousands of workers throughout the metropolis, supported by an algorithmic management, can only be carried out through an incisive control of time, territory, and of the work itself, as well as through the workers’ intense vulnerability. Using data obtained by means of ethnographic incursions, interviews, and by the development of cartographic material, we seek to discuss the dynamics of (re)production of central-peripheral inequalities along with work that is spatialized under the centralized management of platform companies.