Culture and Collective Identity in Gig Work

• In Event: 1451 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 2. Cultural Values and the City

Abstract

Postmates and Favor are on-demand labor platforms that use mobile applications to match delivery requests with couriers, similar to the way Uber and Lyft match drivers with riders. Previous research on couriers has explored their work in terms of often tight-knit urban subcultures that are comprised of low-income bohemians who define themselves against the middle and professional classes. However, with the advent of the “gig economy,” the ranks of couriers have changed. The ease of registering to become a gig courier, combined with economic hardship and the de-stigmatization of service work via its association with technology and start-up culture, has expanded the population of couriers to include middle-class and even upper-class workers from diverse racial and ethnic groups. In this study, I draw on data from 27 in-depth interviews conducted with Postmates and Favor couriers to explore the culture of gig courier work and its implications for collective identity formation. How does the culture of gig courier work operate in this context of relative heterogeneity of identities, resources, and aspirations? If the culture of conventional courier work was oriented towards cultivating dignity and subcultural status through shared rituals of defiance and joy, how do gig couriers understand their work in context of their individual life projects and, potentially, as a member of a collective with a shared culture, if at all?

Author

• Will Attwood-Charles, Boston College