Expanding the Locus of Resistance: Understanding the Co-constitution of Control and Resistance in the Gig Economy

Existing literature examines control and resistance in the context of service organizations that rely on both managers and customers to control workers during the execution of work. Digital platform companies, however, eschew managers in favor of algorithmically mediated customer control-that is, customers rate workers, and algorithms tally and track these ratings to control workers' future platform-based opportunities. How has this shift in the distribution of control among platforms, customers, and workers affected the relationship between control and resistance? Drawing on workers' experiences from a comparative ethnography of two of the largest platform companies, we find that platform use of algorithmically mediated customer control has expanded the service encounter such that organizational control and workers' resistance extend well beyond the execution of work. We find that workers have the most latitude to deploy resistance early in the labor process but must adjust their resistance tactics because their ability to resist decreases in each subsequent stage of the labor process. Our paper, thus, develops understanding of resistance by examining the relationship between control and resistance before, during, and after a task, providing insight into how control and resistance function in the gig economy. We also demonstrate the limitations of platforms' reliance on algorithmically mediated customer control by illuminating how workers' everyday interactions with customers can influence and manipulate algorithms in ways that platforms cannot always observe.

Automated summary

The relationship between control and resistance has shifted in the context of the gig economy. Traditional service organizations rely on managers and customers to control workers, while digital platform companies use algorithmically mediated customer control. This study finds that the use of algorithmically mediated customer control expands the service encounter, extending organizational control and workers' resistance beyond the execution of work. Workers have more freedom to resist in the early stages of the labor process, but their ability to resist decreases in subsequent stages.