Moral Economies of Worth and Symbolic Boundaries in the Construction of Racial Hierarchies in the Platform Economy
An Example of Latvian Food Delivery Gig Workers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12911892 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Iveta Ķešāne (0000-0002-0151-5407, Latvian Academy of Culture, corresponding author), Maija Spuriņa (0000-0002-6978-1322, Latvian Academy of Culture) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology Compass (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1751-9020 • E-ISSN: 1751-9020 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/soc4.70147 |
| OpenAlex | W7118164032 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 25 |
This article examines how platform capitalism fosters racialization in Latvia, a country with limited prior experience with diverse immigrant groups but increasing reliance on immigrant labor. Based on unexpected evidence from a study of gig work among food delivery couriers in Riga, Latvia's capital, this paper explains the construction of racial hierarchies based on “moral boundaries” (Lamont 1992, 2000) in the platform economy. Analysis of the in‐depth interviews with food delivery gig workers and publicly available online communication among couriers in online forums allows us to demonstrate how the anxiety of the local couriers about their economic subsistence and social status translates into symbolic boundary work, whereby local couriers argue their moral superiority over immigrant couriers from South Asia and Africa based on work ethic. Our findings shed some light on how platforms' business model, specifically in the moment of “tightening the belt” (Animento 2024), shapes racialized moral economies of worth in the platform economy
Capitalism · Immigration · Moral economy · Racialization · Sex work · Sociality · Subsistence agriculture · The Symbolic · Work (physics · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Emotional Labor in Professions · Sharing Economy and Platforms
Money, Morals, and Manners
The Dignity of Working Men
Internalising precariousness
Practises and Processes of Symbolic Reproduction of Racial, Ethnic and National Boundaries in Low-Waged Workplaces
Labour Migration, Employer Preferences and Symbolic Boundary Work
Sociological Types of Precarity Among Gig Workers
Ethical Issues in Conducting Qualitative Research in Online Communities
Race, Innocence, and Objectification of the Nation in Latvia
Researching Internet Communities
Why does class resentment not transform into political action? A study of the food delivery workers’ affective dispositions in Rīga
Platform labor
Racial platform capitalism
Road to nowhere or to somewhere? Migrant pathways in platform work in Canada
Mobile workers, contingent labour
The mobilisation of food delivery gig economy workers (riders)
Theorizing autonomy in the platform economy
The Fragmented Labor Power Composition of Gig Workers
Theory Construction in Qualitative Research
Who Feels Inferior? A Test of the Status Anxiety Hypothesis of Social Inequalities in Health
Racism and food delivery platforms
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |