Working in the gig economy is boring: Non-encounters and the politics of detachment in platform capitalism

Abstract

This paper develops the concept of the non-encounter for geography in the context of the changing experience of gig economy work during COVID-19. Supplementing political economy insights with a cultural geographic sensitivity to embodiment, we explore the fluctuating bodily capacities of food delivery drivers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, Australia. We reflect on fieldwork with gig workers which drew our attention to how the practice of doorstep food delivery became ‘contact-free’ during the pandemic. In dialogue with cultural geographical literatures on boredom and interruptions, our paper highlights the deleterious impacts of repetition without interruption on workers' bodies. We argue that the felt absences of previously enjoyed light-touch interactions with customers and other delivery drivers has created a strange kind of ‘non-encounter’ for gig workers, intensifying feelings of boredom and a sense of detachment. We speculate on what this means for the future of gig work and for cultural geographers.