All in a day’s work: impacts of on-demand platform delivery work on immigrant riders in Barcelona

Hegel and Marx diagnosed the state of self-estrangement or alienation of the proletarian workers from processes and products of labor, coworkers, community, and the self. Presently, such alienation re-manifests among the immigrant and racially minoritized delivery riders, who comprise the bulk of th...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Metawala, Prachi, Golda-Pongratz, Kathrin|||0000-0003-1837-1531, Irazabal, Clara
Formato: capítulo de livro
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/411797
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/411797
https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-53594-9_11
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Sociology, Urban -- Spain -- Barcelona
Delivery of goods -- Spain -- Barcelona
Bicycle commuting -- Spain -- Barcelona
Immigrant workers
Delivery riders
Capitalism
Platform economy
Barcelona
Acculturation
Social integration
Sociologia urbana -- Catalunya -- Barcelona
Lliurament de mercaderies -- Catalunya -- Barcelona
Desplaçaments en bicicleta -- Catalunya -- Barcelona
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Urbanisme
Descrição
Resumo:Hegel and Marx diagnosed the state of self-estrangement or alienation of the proletarian workers from processes and products of labor, coworkers, community, and the self. Presently, such alienation re-manifests among the immigrant and racially minoritized delivery riders, who comprise the bulk of the workforces of the digital platform capitalism, with repercussions on their societal integration. Paradoxically, on-demand platform delivery work enables the immigrant messengers’ temporary labor insertion and mobility through the urban landscape of the host city, ergo, a broader scope for day-to-day social and spatial interactions with coinhabitants and their establishments. Such diverse encounters could stimulate the immigrant messengers’ social cohesion within the host communities and acculturation to the host language and customs. This chapter builds on mental mapping and semi-structured interviews with immigrant messengers from the Glovo and Deliveroo platforms in the Barcelona metropolitan area amid the March 2020 coronavirus lockdown. Reinforced by interactions with immigrant platform riders via their social media and chat groups, the chapter explores their contrasting workaday experiences of alienation and acculturation in the host society, revealing exchanges that could partially diminish their segregation, fostering their integration.