The Working Conditions and Organizing Practices of Platform-based Motorcycle Couriers: The Case of Ankara Motorcycle Couriers

The doctoral thesis, which we conducted under the supervision of my esteemed advisor Prof. Dr. Gaye Burcu YILDIZ within the Department of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations at the Ankara University Institute of Social Sciences, is now available at the CoHE Thesis Center.

In this study, titled "The Working Conditions and Organizing Practices of Platform-based Motorcycle Couriers: The Case of Ankara Motorcycle Couriers" the transformation of labour relations and the labour process under contemporary capitalism, evolved through information and communication technologies, is examined. The study focuses on the impact of the platform economy, presented with promises of flexibility and freedom, on motorcycle couriers, whose visibility has notably increased following the pandemic. Based on field research conducted in Ankara, the thesis investigates how motorcycle couriers, who operate under the "self-employed (tradesperson)" model and are deprived of traditional labour law protections, are monitored and controlled through algorithms and human managers, and how a relationship of dependency is established. Furthermore, the economic dependencies and working conditions of these workers, who bear market risks alone, are discussed alongside the new generation of organizational and solidarity practices they have developed using digital tools.

While the thesis process was ongoing, a full-text paper utilizing some of the research data was presented at the 13th International Marmara Science and Social Sciences Congress. Following the completion of the thesis, the section focusing on working conditions was presented as an abstract at the 24th Labour Economics and Industrial Relations Congress. Furthermore, the section addressing organizing practices was presented as an abstract during the Labour Session of the Turkish Social Sciences Association (TSBD) 18th National Social Sciences Congress. The text, enriched by the valuable critiques and contributions of the session's participants, was subsequently published as a book chapter—alongside other papers from the session—in the volume titled Güvencesizlik Çağında Türkiye'de Emek (Labour in Türkiye in the Age of Precarity), edited by Prof. Dr. Ahmet Makal.

Please click on the inner cover image below to access my doctoral thesis.