Dinâmicas de ação coletiva dos entregadores por aplicativos no Brasil : do “corre” cotidiano à regulamentação da atividade

Abstract

The thesis answers the question: what are the dynamics of collective action by platform delivery workers in Brazil in the face of platform capitalism’s novelties? The mobilisation of app-based delivery workers is considered a paradigmatic case of the changes that have taken place in work and production under platform capitalism, in a scenario of deregulation and labour flexibilization resulting from neoliberalism. Thus, reconfigurations can be identified in the forms of resistance, in line with the contemporary political and economic context. Among these new developments are fragmentation, digital mediation and the individualisation of confrontational action, with a weakening of trade unions and criticism of mediating political institutions. Using an interpretative methodology, the thesis is based on interviews with 22 delivery workers from five regions of the country, a compilation of 127 protest events held by the category between March 2020 and December 2023, participation in two demonstrations, monitoring of instant messaging groups and analysis of news and documents. The thesis is structured in 6 chapters, in addition to the introduction and conclusion. In chapter 1, I analyse the reconfigurations of neoliberal politics and its affinities with platform capitalism, looking at the productive logic of platforms and the political meanings of neoliberalism. Chapter 2 turns its analysis to the consequences of these processes in the world of work: considering that informality, partial access to rights and structural racism are marked in the Brazilian labour market, the chapter analyses the platformization of work in the country. Chapter 3 marks the beginning of the qualitative content analyses of the interviews, highlighting the tactics used daily by app-based delivery workers as part of their daily struggle to ensure survival and better working conditions. Chapter 4 analyses the protest events and campaigns, identifying four protest dynamics: (i) national; (ii) platform-related; (iii) regulation and patrolling-related; (iv) violence and humiliation-related. Chapter 5 systematises the processes of interaction between workers and the formation of different bonds of solidarity and public problematization of their condition, which leads to the formation of collective organisation and representation of the category. It also analyses processes of disarticulation due to tension, mistrust and fatigue. Finally, Chapter 6 analyses the disputes and ambiguities around the regulation of platform work. From this journey, it was possible to identify that platform delivery workers explore a wide range of collective actions, permeated by the logic of struggles and experimentation, they put into practice actions based on solidarity, negotiation and confrontation, varying their tactics according to the contexts, organisations and objectives of the mobilisation.