Alberti, G. orcid.org/0000-0001-5673-6568 and Joyce, S. (2023) Mutualism, class composition, and the reshaping of worker organisation in platform work and the gig economy. Global Labour Journal, 14 (3). ISSN 1918-6711
Abstract
This article contributes an understanding of mutualism as a foundational element in emergent worker collectivism. We challenge mainstream institutionalist accounts in industrial relations, especially from the Global North, that downplay processes of bottom-up regeneration of working-class organisation. We discuss compositional accounts of class formation and examine previous understandings of mutualism, then apply our conceptual framework to evidence from international literature and our own research on platform work in Italy and the UK. Three important themes emerge in understanding worker self-organisation: the demographics of the workforce, including migration backgrounds and social ties beyond the workplace; the existence of social relations in the ethnic/political/local community; and the relevance of free spaces of resource sharing and recomposition in the absence of a fixed place of work. We conclude that an understanding of mutualism can help to grasp emergent solidarities among new groups of workers within and beyond both platform work and trade unions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This article is protected by copyright. The Global Labour Journal applies a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. |
Keywords: | Platform work; gig economy; informal solidarity; mutualism; precariousness |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Work and Employment Relation Division (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Oct 2023 10:10 |
Last Modified: | 18 Oct 2023 10:10 |
Published Version: | https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | McMaster University Library |
Identification Number: | 10.15173/glj.v14i3.5332 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:204332 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0