Actions in phygital space: Work solidarity and collective action among app-based cab drivers in India |
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| Authors: | Shalini Parth Dharma Raju Bathini George Kandathil |
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| Institution: | 1. People and Performance Group, S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India;2. Human Resource Management Group, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India;3. Organizational Behaviour Group, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India |
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| Abstract: | This study delineates the microprocesses of solidarity development and the subsequent collective actions of gig workers in India amidst multiple structural constraints. Using netnography, semi-structured interviews and direct observation, we show how digitally naive app-based cab drivers amalgamate physical and digital spaces, construct a phygital space free of managerial gaze and leverage it to bond and bridge, create webs of care and share and resist multiple oppressive forces, individually and collectively. Thus, we broaden the conceptualisation of worker agency beyond labour-management antagonism and extend the extant literature on solidarity development and resistance in gig work by identifying a spatial enabler, phygital free space and the expansive role of relationship-based commitment. Relationship-based commitment not only functions as a membership mobiliser but also helps mobilise collective resistance when interwoven with an external threat-based identity created through injustice framing. |
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| Keywords: | collective action community organisation gig economy phygital space platform work resistance social media solidarity space |
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