Platform Work Stories
The work in the gig economy is characterised by opacity and alienation,
digital platforms effectively hiding from view the intensive human labour that
enables our daily instant gratifications. For platform food couriers, this
hidden work is concealed behind a dot moving on and across a map, deprived
of identity or history. At a time when the possibilities for social bonds and
empathy with workers are often denied to us, this web project gathers
courier stories from three European cities to show what lies behind the
moving dot. Using graphic illustrations, GIS data and audio diaries, this
interactive multimedia platform aims to problematise the discourses of
flexibility, independence and entrepreneurship surrounding gig work. This
platform is part of the research project Doing Gig Work, which studies
the management, solidarity and resistance of platform food couriers in
Manchester (UK), Cluj (Romania) and Lyon (France).