Transformative, Accommodative, and Assimilative Social Bonds. Unpacking Workers’ Solidarity in Delivery Digital Platforms

Despite the control that algorithms exert over the labor process and the individualized nature of the work, food delivery workers on digital platforms have created communities to support each other through social networks and everyday encounters in the city. Existing literature has explored this 'solidarity' as a precursor to the more organized and disruptive forms of collective action that have emerged in recent years. However, there has been limited discussion on how these communities contribute to the reproduction of workers' consent to the labor regime. This article, based on a study of delivery workers in Buenos Aires and Santiago—including 65 semi-structured interviews, 14 shadowing sessions, and 650 surveys—identifies three functions of workers' solidarity: transformation, accommodation, and assimilation of the values, norms, and behaviors imposed by digital platforms. The article argues that understanding these three functions and the tensions between them is crucial for analyzing capital-labor relations on digital platforms. It also examines the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.