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I am a Driver-Partner

Bibliographic Data

ID21189762
AuthorsLuke Munn (0000-0002-1018-7433, corresponding author), Luke Munn Luke Munn
Year2017
Volume11
Issue2
Publication date2017-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Organisation Labour & Globalisation (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1745-641X • E-ISSN: 1745-6428
PublisherPluto Journals (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.13169/workorgalaboglob.11.2.0007
OpenAlexW2773826716
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited8

What does it mean to be a worker in the sharing economy? How is this subjectivity produced by the algorithmic performativities infused into these platforms and how, in turn, is this subjectivity negotiated with? To investigate this question, this article examines the particular algorithmic system of Uber, a labour platform which connects passengers with self-employed ‘Driver-Partners’. Using the notion of the machine, it explores the intentions and agencies embedded in two strategic intersections of matter. The Partner-Management-Messaging machine attempts to shape the behaviour of the Driver-Partner through an array of messaging and motivational techniques. The Driver-Partner responds ambivalently through strategies which both collaborate and conflict with these operational logics. The ViolentFlesh-Passenger machine delves into the informatic notion of the body which Uber maintains and the concrete processes that constantly reinforce this notion. However, this informatic identity fails to fully exhaust the possibilities of the corporeal, highlighting the disparity between this ostensibly ethereal and largely vestigial driver and the violent actions nevertheless carried out by bodies on other bodies. These cases exemplify the negotiations and contingencies which are ever present within algorithmically regulated systems of labour

Aesthetics · Computer security · Epistemology · Human–computer interaction · Negotiation · Sociology · Subjectivity · Blockchain Technology Applications and Security · Computer Science · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Political Economy and Marxism

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Unique citing works8
Citations per year1,14
Citation span2019 - 2025 (7)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 7
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