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REVIEW article

Front. Sociol.
Sec. Work, Employment and Organizations
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1456617
This article is part of the Research Topic Digital Transformations and the Changing Nature of Work View all 7 articles

Navigating Resistance on Digital Platforms: Delivery and Transportation Labor in Türkiye

Provisionally accepted
Batuhan Ersöz Batuhan Ersöz 1*Altan Başaran Altan Başaran 2
  • 1 Department of Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gaziosmanpaşa University, Tokat, Türkiye
  • 2 Department of Labor Economics and Industrial Relations, Faculty of Economics, Marmara University, Kadiköy, Türkiye

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Digital platforms are transforming the world of work. However, platforms operating in similar fields of activity encounter varying mechanisms of opposition, as a result of different degrees of professional institutionalization and their relations with the state. This study examines the diversified labor/capital struggle processes on platforms operating at different points of urban mobility in Istanbul and makes an evaluation between delivery and transportation platforms. Therefore, the actions of workers against digital platforms, news reports and public statements of relevant actors in both fields were systematically analyzed. As a result of the study, it is seen that the labor struggle in delivery services includes demands for the regulation of work in parallel with traditional working class reflexes. On the other hand, the resistance in the urban transport platforms is formed in the center of the rent and turns into an institutional struggle as a result of the public activity of the actors. Thus, the inter-class struggle in delivery services operating on digital platforms transforms into an intra-class rent-sharing struggle in urban transport.

    Keywords: platform work, labor struggle, informal resistance, Platformization, Digital platforms

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 25 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ersöz and Başaran. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Batuhan Ersöz, Department of Social Work, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gaziosmanpaşa University, Tokat, Türkiye

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.