Gendered labor contentions in the platform economy: Studying food-delivery and house-cleaning workers

Abstract

This research examines how state policies shape labor contentions in the platform economy in gendered ways. It analyzes collective actions organized by male food-delivery workers and female house-cleaning platform workers in China, where a paternalistic state stifles collective labor mobilization but enacts policies to increase protection against capitalist exploitation. In response, workers creatively, selectively, and flexibly mobilize gender roles and norms to appeal to the state or challenge capital, while avoiding appearing confrontational. The research contributes to the literature on platform worker resistance by foregrounding the complex interaction between local political contexts, institutional constraints, gender, and workers’ strategies and resilience.

Keywords

China gender labor contentions platform work state-labor relations

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