7. Everyday Algorithmic Resistance

This chapter delves into the everyday resistance strategies employed by migrant food-delivery drivers in the face of algorithmic control and precarity. It identifies three main forms of resistance: dodging algorithms, leveraging algorithms, and subverting algorithms. Drivers employ tactics such as ignoring algorithmic route planning, strategically pacing their workload, and using bots to manipulate the system. The chapter also explores small-scale collective resistance strategies, including relay tactics and solidarity-building initiatives. It reveals a 'tug-of-war' dynamic, where platforms continuously adapt their control mechanisms in response to drivers' resistance, and drivers, in turn, develop new strategies to counter these measures. The research highlights the complex power relations in digital workplaces, showing how resistance can both undermine and reinforce existing power structures. It extends Scott's theory of everyday resistance to the context of the platform-mediated gig economy, providing a comprehensive typology of resistance tactics and demonstrating the dynamic interplay between worker resistance and platform counter-strategies.