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Uber’s ‘partner-bosses’

Rosenblat, Alex (2016) Uber’s ‘partner-bosses’. Researching Sociology (30 Mar 2016). Website.

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Abstract

Uber has long claimed it’s a technology company, not a transportation company, and an intermediary that connects supply (drivers) with demand (passengers). The language Uber uses communicates a strong message of distance between itself and its relationship to drivers: Uber classifies drivers as independent contractors, labels them “driver-partners”, and promotes them as entrepreneurs, although the company faces legal challenges over issues of worker misclassification. Uber relies on the politics of platforms to elude responsibility as a traditional employer, as well as regulatory regimes designed to govern traditional taxi businesses. The terminology Uber uses fosters a certain promise about the freedom of automated systems for organizing work that credits workers with a lot of autonomy and independence.

Item Type: Online resource (Website)
Official URL: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/researchingsociology/
Additional Information: © 2016 The Author(s)
Divisions: LSE
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
J Political Science > JC Political theory
Date Deposited: 26 Jun 2017 11:18
Last Modified: 14 Sep 2024 01:08
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/82276

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