Varieties and similarities of platform capitalismsA comparative approach of abour regulation of on location platform workers in Brazil, Portugal and Spain

José Soeiro ^1* Kenzo Soares Seto ² Victor Riesgo ³

• ¹ Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
• ² Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• ³ National University of Distance Education (UNED), Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Far from making living labour disappear, digital platforms have led to the emergence of a new digital proletariat worldwide, subject to institutional arrangements that put the labour framework outside of labour law. However, this process of remercantilisation and informalisation of work has been accompanied by a legal transnational tug-of-war over the legal status of these workers. Using a comparative approach between Brazil, Portugal, and Spain, this article seeks to describe and problematise the conflict surrounding the regulation of work-on-demand via app workers. To do this, we will take a comparative look at (i) the installation and extension of the activity of on-location platforms in each country; (ii) the political, regulatory and jurisprudential debate in the three countries around the socio-legal framework of couriers and drivers, the role of intermediaries, and law-enforcement; (iii) the positions of the different collective actors and political agents on regulatory models; (iv) the alternative solutions put forward by movements and public policies, namely in the context of platform cooperativism. The international comparative approach will make it possible to highlight both the common aspects of this globalised phenomenon and the particularities of each country platform capitalism regime.