Visible yet unseen

Unpacking the (in)visibilities of food-delivery riders in public space

Bibliographic Data

ID24224909
AuthorsEmilia M Bruck (0000-0001-7354-8470, TU Wien (Vienna, Austria)), Katarzyna Gruszka (0000-0002-5423-6428)
Year2026
Volume81
Issue4
Pages603-616
Publication date2026-10-15
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographica Helvetica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7312 • E-ISSN: 2194-8798
PublisherCopernicus GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.5194/gh-81-603-2026
OpenAlexW7222313118
LanguageEN
References cited65

Food-delivery riders embody a constitutive paradox of platform-mediated labour. Although visible and physically exposed in public space, their labour is obscured, their subjectivities unacknowledged, and their presence marginalised. This article explores this visible invisibility paradox to illuminate gaps in theorising (in)visibility in platform labour. Existing scholarship conceptualises (in)visibility as disembodiment, sociocultural disguise, and economic devaluation, with spatial mechanisms primarily addressed through material presence in public or private space. Moreover, institutional invisibility has largely been theorised regarding labour regulation, overlooking how invisibility within the transportation regime compounds economic, physical, and cultural vulnerabilities. Drawing on interviews with food-delivery riders in Toronto and international studies, this article makes a theoretical contribution to platform labour studies. By illustrating how riders are at once highly visible and othered in public space, the paper provides an analytical expansion of the framework for (in)visibility in platform-mediated work that foregrounds sociospatial dynamics, including sociocultural practices and norms, and institutional regulation. Conceptualising space not as a mere backdrop but as a social product enables a more comprehensive analysis of how sociospatial arrangements (re)produce invisibility.

Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employment, Labor, and Gender Studies · Legal and Labor Studies

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