Twin Precarities in the Platform Economy: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Abstract

With the rise of neoliberal globalised markets and large-scale irregular migration, temporary migrant labour has become central to the economic growth of the global North within a changing global economy. However, the restructuring of national and regional economies has also brought about the informalisation of labour markets and the fragmentation of labour processes, with migrants being more exposed than other workers to the detrimental risks of wage squeezes and uncertainty associated with securing permanent jobs. Within this context, this review takes a critical look to explore the challenges migrant workers experience while using various digital labour platforms such as Uber, Uber Eats, DoorDash and Hungry Panda, to earn an income. After reviewing existing literature on migration, citizenship, precarious work and digital labour platforms, in this paper, I introduce the concept of ‘twin precarities’ to explore migrant workers' vulnerabilities arising from their non-citizenship status and their involvement in the platform economy, where they often experience algorithmic management but many of them are less familiar with how to navigate or strategically engage with the algorithm, partly due to limited technological skills, a challenge that is also common among non-migrant citizens. ‘Twin precarities’ is a new analytical frame for understanding the lived experience of migrant platform workers as well as for exploring the various and complex entanglements between precarious migrants' emancipatory practices enabled by digital labour platforms and the constraints created by these platforms.