Digital labour platforms and neoliberal governmentality: the case of platform workers in Turkey
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
ISSN: 0144-333X
Article publication date: 22 March 2022
Issue publication date: 14 February 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The paper brings Foucauldian analysis of neoliberal governmentality in the discussion on the new forms of labour control within digital labour platforms. The aim of the paper is to reveal the effect of control mechanisms employed by platforms on “entrepreneurial self” within the context of work relations.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on in-depth interviews, conducted with workers under different service categories, the author undertook an extended case study of Armut.com, a digital labour platform operating in Turkey.
Findings
The study finds that competitive mechanisms employed by the platform have a considerable effect on worker self-commercialisation and self-rationalisation. This is dependent on different control mechanisms employed by the platform, based on different platform working models.
Originality/value
The research brings the worker subjectivities to the discussion of control within the scope of digital labour platforms. By undertaking a rare empirical study on this issue, it contributes to the theory of entrepreneurial self within the scope of work relations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author is thankful to Denis Strebkov, Andrey Shevchuk and anonymous reviewers for valuable feedback and to Christine Gerber for helpful comments on an earlier version. The author gratefully acknowledges support from the Basic Research Program of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University).
Citation
Uysal, K. (2023), "Digital labour platforms and neoliberal governmentality: the case of platform workers in Turkey", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 43 No. 1/2, pp. 142-155. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-09-2021-0248
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited