The mobilisation of gig economy couriers in Italy

Tassinari, Arianna; Maccarrone, Vincenzo

doi:10.1177/1024258917713846

Cited by 59 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Young adults riding bicycles while carrying big boxes marked by the logos of companies like Foodora, Deliveroo, Justeat, Glovo, and so on, are today a common sight in most European cities. Several episodes of collective action has been taking place in Italy in this sector since 2016 (Tassinari & Maccarrone, 2017a, 2017bZamponi, 2018aZamponi, , 2018b. For these reasons, I have included in the sample two of these collectives: Deliverance Milano and Riders Union Bologna.…”

Section: Case and Method: Labor Struggles In Times Of Austerity In Italymentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Precarious Generation” and the “Natives of the Ruins”: The Multiple Dimensions of Generational Identity in Italian Labor Struggles in Times of Crisis

Zamponi

2019

American Behavioral Scientist

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Focusing on mobilizations around work, this article sheds light on generational identity as it emerges in activists involved in labor struggles in Italy in the past few years. Do Italian “millennial” activists perceive themselves as part of the same political generation? What are its main traits? And are the contextual elements that define it linked more to socioeconomic context or to experiences of collective action? The analysis shows a clear self-identification of Italian millennials, in the context of labor struggles, as “the precarious generation”: a generation mostly affected by the socioeconomic conditions of the past few years, with the explosion of labor precarity, of the economic crisis, and more generally, of neoliberal policies. While this shared identity refers to a specific socioeconomic context, there is a difference related to the experience of political mobilization: Activists are rather pessimistic when focusing on the youngest component of their generation, usually described as more individualist, due to their lack of exposure to intense waves of political mobilization. The contribution explores the multidimensional nature of generational identity and its asymmetric nature: If both the socioeconomic context and the experience of political socialization play a role in shaping a political generation, these dynamics do not always go hand in hand, and activists tend to actively work to reconcile the different dimensions of their generational identity into a coherent narrative.

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Section: Case and Method: Labor Struggles In Times Of Austerity In Italymentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Precarious Generation” and the “Natives of the Ruins”: The Multiple Dimensions of Generational Identity in Italian Labor Struggles in Times of Crisis

Zamponi

2019

American Behavioral Scientist

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“…Furthermore, many BMS members keep a transnational network with the squats and associations in Italy in which they participate and try to maintain cooperation. For example, some of the people who followed the first big protests of the Turin Foodora riders (Tassinari and Maccarrone, 2017) in the EU went to Berlin to share the experience of the delivery workers' actions and the tactics they put into place. BMS tried to connect Berlin delivery riders to create a network, acting as brokers with Berlin and abroad with the FAU.…”

Section: Berlin Migrant Strikersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bricolage in labor organizing practices: Spanish and Italian migrant activists in Berlin

Castellani

Martínez

2021

Journal of Industrial Relations

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This article analyzes how Southern European workers create bricolage by combining creatively organized practices of collective action, such as those of conventional labor unions, with self-created practices when facing oppressive labor relations and widespread downgrading of social mobility. We compare two cases of networks formed by Spanish and Italian migrant workers in Berlin: the Grupo de Acción Sindical and Berlin Migrant Strikers. Drawing on an ethnographic study of these groups, the article argues that the networks have different logics of action and political strategies. Their dissimilarities are manifested in different outcomes and organizational dimensions. Key factors include their founding members' social and activist backgrounds and leaders' countries of origin. It can be argued that, through these networks, migrants produce and reproduce political practices and collective actions, shaping a transnational social space that connects migrants and non-migrant individuals and organizations from both origin and destination countries.

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“…Otherwise the outcome will be suboptimal for both group and individual. For example, food delivery cyclists involved in protests for better working conditions might get banned from the platform and be replaced by more disadvantaged workers for whom accepting such conditions is still a rational decision (Tassinari and Maccarrone 2017). Sociologists describe these situations as collective action problems or social dilemmas (Olson 1971).…”

Section: Main Scientific Problem: Varieties Of Cooperativism In the Platform Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Free-riding on the effort of other gig workers in collective action is more attractive when there are few rules to be monitored and enforced. For example, street protests by Foodora delivery cyclists did not result in the company meeting their core demands and, while protesters' accounts were deactivated, a large pool of labour easily (Tassinari and Maccarrone 2017). To evade collective action problems, it is expected that the soft approach will keep individual costs of participating low and have little obligations for members.…”

Section: Solutions To the Platform Economy's Collective Action Puzzlementioning

confidence: 99%

Gigs of their own: reinventing worker cooperativism in the platform economy and its implications for collective action

Bunders¹

2021

Platform Economy Puzzles

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The recent rise of gig platforms brings together longer trends of work flexibilisation, digital technology and changing consumer preferences to act as intermediaries between local on-demand via app workers or remote crowdworkers and their respective customers (De Stefano 2015;Woodcock and Graham 2020). On the one hand, gig platforms may generate flexible job opportunities and new ways to make a living (Martin 2016). Their low entry barrier, and for crowdwork access to global labour markets, makes them particularly attractive to disadvantaged groups that lack access to standard employment ). On the other hand, gig platforms have become associated with algorithmic surveillance, poorer working conditions that come with on-demand work (that is, employment uncertainty, irregular earnings and unstable working hours), and fewer social rights and voice for workers (Scholz 2017). According to this perspective, many platforms exploit disadvantaged groups by expanding informalized precarious work (Van Doorn 2017;Webster 2016).In an effort to uphold the benefits and mitigate the risks of gig platforms, discussions about the future of work are on the rise. This chapter builds on insights from sociology and social history to examine how gig workers themselves might strive for more decent work. 1 Since labour market flexibi-1 'Decent work' is a concept introduced by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1999, later also adopted in the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations in 2015, which emphasizes the creation of jobs of acceptable quality (Ghai 2003).

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The mobilisation of gig economy couriers in Italy

Cited by 59 publications

References 3 publications

The “Precarious Generation” and the “Natives of the Ruins”: The Multiple Dimensions of Generational Identity in Italian Labor Struggles in Times of Crisis

The “Precarious Generation” and the “Natives of the Ruins”: The Multiple Dimensions of Generational Identity in Italian Labor Struggles in Times of Crisis

Bricolage in labor organizing practices: Spanish and Italian migrant activists in Berlin

Gigs of their own: reinventing worker cooperativism in the platform economy and its implications for collective action

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