A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä
Delivering difference: ‘Unbelonging’ among US platform parcel delivery workers
Tekijät: Johnston Hannah, Mommadova Yana, Vallas Steven, Schor Juliet
Kustantaja: Oxford University Press
Julkaisuvuosi: 2023
Journal: Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society
Vuosikerta: 16
Numero: 2
Aloitussivu: 303
Lopetussivu: 318
eISSN: 1752-1386
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsac046
Verkko-osoite: https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsac046
This paper explores a neglected aspect of platform work: how the spatial mobility that app-based couriers must perform requires them to violate taken-for-granted assumptions that define who belongs where. By assigning tasks during atypical hours and requiring gig workers to use their personal clothing, tools and vehicles, platforms strip delivery workers of signifiers that legitimate their presence in consumers’ neighbourhoods. The result is a condition we call ‘unbelonging’ – a liminal state in which their presence is considered problematic, exposing them to threats of physical and symbolic violence. Our findings, which draw on 45 interviews with parcel delivery workers, contribute to the developing literature on urban geography and the socio-spatial impacts of the platform revolution.