In this exploratory study, we investigate the effects of digital labour platforms (DLPs) on cleaning workers. The prevalence of informality in this sector leads us to suggest analysing workers’ experiences by combining the literature on DLPs with that on the informal economy. Through in-depth interviews with cleaners in Milan and Rome, as well as DLP representatives, the article highlights on one hand, how DLPs affect informal workers and their conditions, and, on the other hand, how workers represent their work and what meanings they associate with the terms formal and informal in the location-based platform economy. The study shows that DLPs seem to play a limited role in the formalisation of work, revealing new forms of hybridisation between formal and informal labour. The use of DLPs also results in increasingly confusing perceptions of what constitutes formal (or regular) and informal work.

Dimitriadis, I., Coletto, D. (2024). Digital Labour Platforms in the Italian Domestic Sector: Approaching (In)Formalisation Processes from the Other Way Round. CRITICAL SOCIOLOGY [10.1177/08969205241295949].

Digital Labour Platforms in the Italian Domestic Sector: Approaching (In)Formalisation Processes from the Other Way Round

Dimitriadis, I
;
Coletto, D
2024

Abstract

In this exploratory study, we investigate the effects of digital labour platforms (DLPs) on cleaning workers. The prevalence of informality in this sector leads us to suggest analysing workers’ experiences by combining the literature on DLPs with that on the informal economy. Through in-depth interviews with cleaners in Milan and Rome, as well as DLP representatives, the article highlights on one hand, how DLPs affect informal workers and their conditions, and, on the other hand, how workers represent their work and what meanings they associate with the terms formal and informal in the location-based platform economy. The study shows that DLPs seem to play a limited role in the formalisation of work, revealing new forms of hybridisation between formal and informal labour. The use of DLPs also results in increasingly confusing perceptions of what constitutes formal (or regular) and informal work.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Gig economy; digital labour platforms; platform economy; informal economy; domestic work; informal work; formalisation processes, labour studies; cleaning sector
English
4-nov-2024
2024
none
Dimitriadis, I., Coletto, D. (2024). Digital Labour Platforms in the Italian Domestic Sector: Approaching (In)Formalisation Processes from the Other Way Round. CRITICAL SOCIOLOGY [10.1177/08969205241295949].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/523320
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