Antagonism beyond employment: how the ‘subordinated agency’ of labour platforms generates conflict in the remote gig economy

Alexander Wood, Vili Lehdonvirta

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Abstract

This article investigates why gig economy workers who see themselves as self-employed freelancers also engage in collective action traditionally associated with regular employment. Using ethnographic evidence on the remote gig economy in North America, the UK and the Philippines, we argue that labour platforms increase the agency of workers to contract with clients and thus reduce the risk of false self-employment in terms of the worker–client relationship. However, in doing so, platforms create a new source of subordination to the platform itself. We term this phenomenon ‘subordinated agency’, and demonstrate that it entails a ‘structured antagonism’ with platforms that manifests in three areas: fees, competition and worker voice mechanisms. Subordinated agency creates worker desire for representation, greater voice and even unionization towards the platform, while preserving entrepreneurial attitudes towards clients.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbermwab016
Pages (from-to)1369-1396
Number of pages28
JournalSocio-Economic Review
Volume19
Issue number4
Early online date26 Sept 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) Horizon 2020 grant agreement number 639652.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

Keywords

  • Employee voice
  • flexibility
  • industrial relations
  • technology
  • trade unions

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Industrial relations
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
  • Sociology and Political Science

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