Platform couriers' self‐exploitation: The case study of Glovo
基于对Glovo公司22位利益相关者的访谈，研究平台骑手如何因不稳定的工作状态、创业心态和游戏化机制而陷入自我剥削，呼吁政策关注算法设计和劳动不稳定性。
Abstract This article examines the phenomenon of self‐exploitation among platform couriers, using the company Glovo as a case study. The research, based on a qualitative approach with interviews from 22 different stakeholders, highlights the ways in which precarity, entrepreneurial subjectivity, and gamification intersect to create what are referred to as postdisciplinary control mechanisms. These mechanisms shift the locus of exploitation from the employer to the workers' inner selves, which are compelled to follow implicit guidelines due to their precarious situation. The use of algorithmic management by platform companies like Glovo plays a major role in this architecture marked by overwork, exposure to hazardous conditions, and economic dependence. The article urges policymakers to look beyond platform workers' employment status debate and address the design of algorithms and broader forms of labour precarity, so that policies that successfully improve workers' experience are designed.