Actions in phygital space: Work solidarity and collective action among app‐based cab drivers in India

Abstract

This study delineates the microprocesses of solidarity development and the subsequent collective actions of gig workers in India amidst multiple structural constraints. Using netnography, semi-structured interviews and direct observation, we show how digitally naive app-based cab drivers amalgamate physical and digital spaces, construct a phygital space free of managerial gaze and leverage it to bond and bridge, create webs of care and share and resist multiple oppressive forces, individually and collectively. Thus, we broaden the conceptualisation of worker agency beyond labourmanagement antagonism and extend the extant literature on solidarity development and resistance in gig work by identifying a spatial enabler, phygital free space and the expansive role of relationship-based commitment. Relationship-based commitment not only functions as a membership mobiliser but also helps mobilise collective resistance when interwoven with an external threat-based identity created through injustice framing.

The phygital transformation: a systematic review and a research agenda

“…We detected the different nouns associated with a neologism. The label phygital was used in connection with context (Turco & Giovannini, 2020;Stankov & Gretzel, 2020;Klaus, 2021, Liu et al, 2022 or spaces (Bazzanella et al, 2014;Neuburger et al, 2018;Shalini et al, 2021), objects, applications (Andrade & Dias, 2020;Lupetti et al, 2016), shopping experience (Ballina et al, 2019;Due & Toft, 2021;Silva & Cachinho, 2021), customer journey (Mele et al, 2021;Mele & Russo Spena, 2022). The following sections describe the four items in-depth by offering an interpretative framework.…”

The Value of Netnography for Research in HRD

“…Over time, the methodological basis of Netnography has been refined and clarified as it has been utilised in different disciplines such as education, including adult education (Ngo & Eichelberger, 2020), sociology (Addeo, et al, 2019) and political science (Jester, 2022), while methodological papers are currently exploring opportunities and challenges afforded by Netnography to different fields, such as accounting (Jeacle, 2021), tourism (Tavakoli & Wijesinghe, 2019), and geography (Wu, 2022). However, its application in the HRD and related fields has so far been limited to a very few studies (see, for example, Keshtiban et al, 2021; Parth et al, 2021).…”

“…Similarly, Maffie’s (2020) study of Uber riders Facebook groups found that workers use online spaces to share grievances and build collective identity, which in turn is associated with more positive views on unions and improved interest in joining a labour association. An emerging body of literature in several empirical contexts, such as Indian app-based cab drivers (Parth et al, 2021), Kenyan Uber workers (Anwar et al, 2022), Scottish on-demand food couriers (Gregory, 2021), and Indonesian platform-based domestic workers (Octavia, 2021) is providing insights into how digital communication spaces and social media groups enable collective processes of solidarity and workers’ resistance to work around management’s restrictive practices. Given the increasing prevalence of gig work, platform work, and crowdwork in the contemporary labour market, Netnographic research represent an indispensable methodology from which to empirically chart and understand collective identity construction, resistance and struggle in these otherwise inaccessible contexts.…”

“…We further argue that Netnography provides HRD researchers with opportunities to access ‘voices’ that might otherwise be inadvertently silenced by traditional organisational research. Marginalised and hidden voices might be those of migrants (Castellani & Roca, 2022; Janta & Ladkin, 2013), illiterate precarious workers (Parth et al, 2021), protesters and activists outside mainstream networks (Keshtiban et al, 2021), or women and ethnic minority workers carrying out remote work (Akemu & Abdelnour, 2020). An example of the potential of the Netnography in such circumstances is Janta and Ladkin (2013) who examined online employment practices in the hospitality sector in international migration contexts.…”

“…A further example of marginalised voices accessible through Netnography is Parth et al (2021) analysis of workers’ online chat in food delivery companies. They revealed the experience of gig workers who were not sufficiently literate for social media but could learn digital skills such as vocal messages, taking pictures and screenshots, and recording and sharing video files from more experienced workers which in turn generated increased collective identity and micro-political participation.…”