‘God Is Protecting Me … And I Have Mace’: Defensive Labour In Precarious Workplaces

Since the 1970s, welfare cuts and market deregulation have made jobs increasingly precarious and workers have been made responsible for their own safety. In this context, technological developments have recently paved the way for the gig economy, in which tasks and services are distributed on digita...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ladegaard, Isak (Author) ; Schor, Juliet B. 1955- (Author) ; Ravenelle, Alexandrea J. 1980- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
In: The British journal of criminology
Year: 2022, Volume: 62, Issue: 3, Pages: 773-789
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Organizations
Platforms
Gig work
Precarity
Responsibilization
Technology
Uber
emotional labour
Description
Summary:Since the 1970s, welfare cuts and market deregulation have made jobs increasingly precarious and workers have been made responsible for their own safety. In this context, technological developments have recently paved the way for the gig economy, in which tasks and services are distributed on digital platforms. Drawing on interviews with 32 Uber and Lyft drivers in New York City and Boston, we document how the intersecting forces of precarity, responsibilization and organizational innovation spawn the need for ‘defensive labour’, that is, emotional and cognitive self-protective practices.
ISSN:1464-3529
DOI:10.1093/bjc/azab080