“Congratulations asphalt warriors”: the circulation of gifts among application drivers

Abstract

Neoliberalism produces multiple forms of erosion in the world of work. However, the consequences of these erosions lead to something else, not reducible to the plundering processes that triggered them. In fact, social actors who experience the most harmful consequences of this model of accumulation often produce meanings that are opposite to those to which certain theories in vogue in the social sciences attribute them. In this article, I offer reflections on this topic based on the analysis of one of the social actors most affected by the austerity policies and cuts in social rights caused by neoliberalism: app drivers. I demonstrate that this actor builds associative mechanisms expressed in gift circulation processes, which allow us to understand uberization from a perspective different from that hegemonized by a certain sociology of work. Finally, I suggest that this perspective can help researchers build dialogue with a group of workers who are resistant to traditional forms of union representation or CLT ties.