Platform cooperativism and freedom as non-domination in the gig economy

Abstract

While the challenges workers face in the gig economy are now well-known, reflections on emancipatory solutions in political philosophy are still underdeveloped. Some have pleaded for enhancing workers’ bargaining power through unionisation; others for enhancing exit options in the labour market. Both strategies, however, come with unintended side-effects and do not exhaust the full potential for worker self-government present in the digital gig economy. Using the republican theory of freedom as non-domination, I argue that G.D.H. Cole's 20th-century defence of guild socialism offers a promising avenue for enhancing worker autonomy in the gig economy. Platform companies rely on relational and structural domination to undermine worker autonomy, but Cole's guild socialism was specifically designed to enhance autonomy in the workplace. Following Cole's advice today would amount to a defence of worker-owned cooperative platforms. By putting workers in control of platform design and governance, cooperative platforms create new opportunities for worker autonomy. However, platform cooperativism faces serious challenges if it plans on becoming a realistic alternative to the traditional gig economy.