ror.org/03490as77
Abstracts
Abstract
In this article, I will analyze the ways in which Brazilian workers are using social media to organize and mobilize. Although analysis of social media use has made great progress, in the case of worker movements it still needs further development. I will focus on the experience of Brazilian app-based delivery workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite their dispersion across the country, delivery workers were able to carry out two national strikes through intense use of WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Using qualitative analysis of posts from worker organizations on social media, it was possible to identify the challenges faced by these movements when using digital media. Social media helped solve some organizational and communication problems, while producing others that workers had to deal with.
Summary
In this article, I will analyze the ways in which Brazilian workers are using social media to organize and mobilize. I will focus on the experience of Brazilian app-based delivery workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. My research was carried out throughout July 2020, when the workers went on strike for higher pay and better working conditions. I employed a qualitative methodology of observing, selecting and analyzing about five hundred social media posts by delivery workers and their unions, associations and independent collectives. To organize the strike, they most often used Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram. I thus focused on these platforms while collecting text, audio and video posts. I also obtained empirical data through monitoring and direct observation of the movement in the streets, as well as through interviews with delivery workers. The results indicate that the movement succeeded in expanding and disseminating its influence among and beyond delivery workers through the complementary use of online and offline actions. The movement thus gained more visibility and was better able to organize spatially dispersed workers. Engagement and participation were ensured through the use of networks, which thus played a prominent role in helping build and disseminate a collective identity, and which then became a means to undertake political action. Despite their gains, delivery workers also encountered formidable challenges. Their greater visibility increased the ability of companies to identify and repress movement organizers. In addition, internal fragmentation was not overcome, either offline or online. Although these movements owe their strength to social media, digital organization alone cannot solve their political or organizational problems.
Keywords:
- delivery workers,
- workers’ digital action,
- digital platforms,
- collective action,
- Brazil
Résumé
L'article analyse comment les travailleurs brésiliens utilisent les réseaux sociaux pour leur organisation. En suivant les réseaux sociaux des organisations des travailleurs, nous avons vérifié les défis apportés par ce nouvel instrument dans l'action collective. L'analyse porte sur la mobilisation des livreurs de plateformes, réalisée tout au long du mois de juillet 2020, lors de la pandémie de COVID-19 au Brésil. La recherche utilise une méthodologie qualitative en observant, sélectionnant et analysant environ cinq cents publications sur les médias sociaux de ce groupe professionnel. Les médias sociaux les plus utilisés tout au long du processus d'organisation de la grève ont été Facebook, Youtube, Whatsapp, Twitter et Instagram. Ainsi, la recherche s'est concentrée sur ces médias, collectant des publications au format texte, audio et vidéo. De plus, des données empiriques ont été obtenues par le suivi et l'observation directe des déplacements dans les rues, ainsi que par des entretiens avec les participants. La recherche indique que les usages complémentaires entre les actions en ligne et hors ligne, le succès dans l'expansion et la diffusion du mouvement à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur du groupe professionnel, lui donnant une grande visibilité, l'aide à l'organisation d'un groupe professionnel dispersé dans l'espace garantissant l'engagement, l'utilisation des réseaux a joué un rôle prépondérant dans la construction d'une identité collective désormais reconvertie dans l'action politique en tant que sujet politique collectif. Malgré tous ces gains, les défis étaient également de taille. Par exemple, la visibilité a augmenté la capacité des entreprises à réprimer les participants et la fragmentation organisationnelle interne du groupe n'a pas été surmontée hors ligne ou en ligne. Tout cela indique qu'aujourd'hui, malgré le fait qu'il est impossible de penser ces mouvements sans recourir aux réseaux sociaux, il ne faut pas penser qu'ils peuvent à eux seuls résoudre les problèmes politiques et d'organisation.
Mots-clés :
- Livreurs,
- Mobilisation en ligne des travailleurs,
- Plateformes numériques,
- Action collective,
- Brésil
Appendices
References
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