Abstract
This article shows how motorcycle taxi drivers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia deal with labour insecurity, tighter competition, minimum social welfare, decreased tariff and bonuses and longer working hours. The article finds that drivers employ diverse strategies to obtain more orders and therefore also more income. Drivers use prohibited mobile application-based technologies, which resemble those of their platforms, as well as non-technological strategies to boost their account’s performance. The article argues that whereas these prohibited practices can be understood as everyday resistance (Scott 1985), as oppositional acts against the holders of power and capital, they are also pragmatic survival tactics. Furthermore, the article shows that although the drivers’ resistance is individual, their knowledge and strategies are sourced and shared collectively through social media platforms. Being widely distributed between drivers and commonly applied by drivers, these strategies have nonetheless not been able to transform driver-company relationships in any significant way.
Highlights
This article shows how motorcycle taxi drivers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, deal with labour insecurity, tighter competition, minimum social welfare, dedrivers employ diverse strategies to obtain more orders and more income
The world economy has become increasingly coordinated and integrated into a ‘platform capitalism’ that operates within the digital economy (Srnicek 2017)
Bloomberg reports that Indonesia has been the region’s largest contributor to the growth of the internet economy, is predicted to triple by 2025 (Wagner and Lee 2020)
Summary
This article shows how motorcycle taxi drivers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, deal with labour insecurity, tighter competition, minimum social welfare, dedrivers employ diverse strategies to obtain more orders and more income. The world economy has become increasingly coordinated and integrated into a ‘platform capitalism’ that operates within the digital economy (Srnicek 2017) In this context, the word ‘platform’ refers to companies that convey customers’ demands to ‘independent contractors’ (or ‘partners’) through mobile phone applications (apps), which positions the contractors with minimum workers’ rights. One prominent platform company in Indonesia is the motorcycle taxi jackets.[1] (popularly known as Gojek). While we see a growing and successful platform economy, exemplition of studies into the social and political aspects of workers in the digital economy, including app-based online transportation drivers. This article explores the increased insecurity of ride-hailing motorcycle taxi drivers in Yogyakarta and their everyday resistance towards the company that exploits them. We will discuss the impact that drivers’ everyday resistance has on the platform economy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
