Dynamics of Platform Architecture and Labor Unrest: Mobilizing and Contesting Solidarity in the 2021–2022 Foodpanda Delivery Rider Strikes in Hong Kong
Weaving together relational approaches to collective action as well as the concepts of platform architecture and social media affordances, this qualitative study examines the manifestation and contestation of worker solidarity in the platform-mediated gig economy. Based on semi-structured interviews...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Social Media + Society |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251319578 |
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| Summary: | Weaving together relational approaches to collective action as well as the concepts of platform architecture and social media affordances, this qualitative study examines the manifestation and contestation of worker solidarity in the platform-mediated gig economy. Based on semi-structured interviews with 30 participants—including riders and labor rights group members involved in the 2021–2022 Foodpanda delivery rider strikes—this article offers a relational and processual view of how worker solidarity was formed, consolidated, and contested throughout the strikes in Hong Kong’s post-union era. The analysis reveals that riders’ grievances against Foodpanda emerged in response to the evolving platform architecture, while non-workplace factors such as the sociopolitical context further shaped riders’ repertoires of action. Riders strategically utilized interpersonal communication networks and various social media affordances to mobilize and strengthen solidarity. Worker solidarity, however, was contested due to internal conflicts among riders and the fear of police. Algorithmic control also serves as a repressive tool to demobilize workers. Thus, solidarity was fragmented and transient. This study theorizes the platform architecture as part of the dynamic process through which worker solidarity is mobilized and contested. It contributes to understanding the varieties of platform labor unrest by examining the relational dynamics of worker solidarity in the changing political context where labor power is likely to be weakened. As such, platform labor unrest is deeply embedded within a wider platform ecology and socio-political context, where workers mobilize among themselves and interact with their opponents, alliances, and other social actors. |
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| ISSN: | 2056-3051 |