La producción del sujeto autónomo en las plataformas digitales de trabajo

Abstract

Working on digital platforms is being widely discussed due its role in work reorganization. In this context, the axis of autonomy formally attributed to workers is particularly relevant. In this study we address the production of autonomy in working on platforms as a strategy for the governance of subjectivities, in the context of the structural precariousness of Latin America labor market. Framed in a qualitative study and a digital ethnography design, we present an analysis of applications intended for workers on two apps: Uber (ride-hailing) and Pedidos Ya (delivery) in Chile. The results show that the apps, promote the understanding of themselves as free and self-regulated workers through two complementary strategies: the exaltation of the subject's freedom and will, and the overlapping of the platform's controls. The forms of partial ascription to these notions are intrinsically related to the conditions of precariousness that characterize formal employment in the experience of individuals. We discuss implications for the agenda of study on the uberization of work.