Disruptive Dynamics: A Sociological Analysis of Platformization in the on-Demand Transportation Sector in Spain

There are more than 500 digital labour platforms operating in the EU, and even though platform work still only accounts for a small proportion of the workforce in most European countries, scholars, policy makers and social partners are increasingly raising concerns because of the disruptive changes they bring in different dimensions such as the regulatory field, the production system or the power relations (Thelen, 2018; Del Nido, 2021; Riesgo Gómez, 2023).

In the on-demand transportation/taxi sector, the entry of digital platform companies, such as Uber, is disrupting and replacing the shares of traditional taxi companies and is leading to the huge increase of non-standard forms of work. Moreover, the entry of the platform has led to the exponential growth of non-standard forms of work. In this case, the worker power is splintered by either disrupting and forcing existing workers into adopting platform practices or by hiring drivers as “self-employed” individuals (Thelen, 2018). This paper aims to provide a sociological historical analysis of how disruptive changes associated to the platformization of the demand transportation/taxi sector , affect social dynamics and equality at the local level. The analysis focuses on the Spanish cases, and compares recent historical trends in three different cities (Barcelona, Madrid and Zaragoza) through a combination of desk research and key informant semi-structure interviews.