Mapping Platform Cooperatives: Identities, Dimensions and Challenges

A young and digital cooperative movement is trying to emerge in reaction to the triumphant platform capitalism of the last thirty years. Despite the growing scholarship, the numbers and dimensions of platform cooperatives are not well known. There are no quantitative studies describing a large number of platform cooperatives. This paper constitutes a first attempt to map platform cooperatives globally. On the basis of the first international economic survey on platform cooperatives, it constitutes a comprehensive international economic chart of the identities, dimensions and challenges of platform cooperatives. Data from 86 respondents registered legally in 5 continents outline 27 platform cooperatives’ geographies, dimensions, legal forms, values, the number of workers, co-owners, users and providers of these platforms, the amount of capital involved, where their original capital comes from, their relationship with blockchain, their governance, their legislation obstacles, and their main challenges. The paper distinguishes platform cooperativism from platform cooperatives, and it addresses definitional issues that have arisen since they were defined. It finally offers a grounded understanding of platform cooperatives’ challenges and their most up-to-date empirical picture.