Acceso usuarios
Gabriel López Martínez
, Francisco Eduardo Haz Gómez, Eleder Piñeiro Aguiar
El rider recorre el espacio urbano como intermediario entre empresa de plataformas y cliente final, realizando tareas de baja cualificación y de fácil reemplazo. Su naturaleza ambigua, con reconocimiento legal como asalariado, aunque suela establecer una relación mercantil con la empresa de plataformas, le confiere notas de vulnerabilidad y precariedad. Como resultado de un trabajo de campo extenso en la Región de Murcia, se revelan discursos y prácticas que explican al rider como una figura híbrida que a menudo se autodefine en relación con las notas de flexibilidad y autogestión, una identificación que difiere de los presupuestos materiales que lo explican como subordinado y dependiente de la empresa de plataformas. Los resultados revelan una autopercepción de agencia y flexibilidad que se entiende como estrategia consciente de posicionamiento donde la autonomía es ilusoria. Se presenta así la flexi-vulnerabilidad como herramienta analítica y atributo que captura esta naturaleza dual, dependiente de la empresa de plataformas, al tiempo que agente de estrategias de autonomía a corto-medio plazo.
The rider travels the urban space as an intermediary between the platform company and the end customer, performing low-skilled and easily replaceable tasks. Its ambiguous nature, with legal recognition as a salaried employee, although usually establishes a commercial relationship with the platform company, gives notes of vulnerability and precariousness. This article analyzes similarities and material and identity differences between delivery riders operating in the same territory, focusing on the self-perception and labor strategies differentiated between self-employed and salaried workers, which they activate in the performance and negotiation of their particular situation. As a result of extensive fieldwork in the Region of Murcia, discourses and practices are revealed that explain the rider as a hybrid figure who often defines himself in relation to the notes of flexibility and self-management, an identification that differs from the material assumptions that explain him as subordinate and dependent on the platform company. The results show a self-perception of agency and flexibility that is understood as a conscious positioning strategy where autonomy is illusory. Flexi-vulnerability is thus presented as an analytical tool and attribute that captures this dual nature, dependent on the platform company, while at the same time an agent of short-medium term autonomy strategies.
