Resolving Resistance and Derogation of Rights: The Dual Dilemma of Unstable Platform Workers
ZHANG Fuli
Author information+
( 1. Law School, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi 541006, China;
2. Guangxi Local Rule of Law and Local Governance Research Center, Guilin, Guangxi 541006, China)
Crowdsourcing work on platforms is not entirely an inevitable result of economic development, but rather a deliberate act of capital. The ″unstable workers″ under the power of platform algorithms face two major dilemmas: offline gig workers facing the situation of collective adversarial strategies and actions being dissolved, and ghost workers hidden behind artificial intelligence and automation facing the problem of reduced rights, treatment, and protection. Platform workers form various informal groups through geographical and professional connections, and use loopholes in various rules to ″drill holes″ in the system. While the resistance of workers is quietly resolved by the platform, it is secretly transformed into a driving force for the platform′s brain to upgrade. The new platform work represented by ghost work has dissolved traditional labor relations, avoided legal obligations, and transformed the platform from an employer to a service provider that matches both labor and management. At the same time, the dehumanization in the human-machine cooperation loop deepens the self-control of workers. Through the analysis of the labor operation mechanisms of two types of digital platforms, it can be seen that platform workers are trapped in a rigid cycle of self-depletion. The self-employment of unstable platform workers intensifies the discipline of capital on workers, becoming a new paradigm of labor alienation in the digital platform era.
Resolving Resistance and Derogation of Rights: The Dual Dilemma of Unstable Platform Workers. Journal of Guangzhou University (Social Science Edition). 2024, 23(4): 136-148