Entre algoritmos e corridas: autonomia, controle e resistência no trabalho dos entregadores por aplicativo na cidade de Pelotas/RS

Abstract

This study investigates the dynamics of autonomy and control in the work of app-based delivery workers, using an empirical framework in the city of Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul. Using a qualitative approach, it analyzes how these dynamics intersect with the transformations of the world of work reconfigured by uberization, especially with the emergence of platform companies—that is, platformization, precariousness, informality, and the systemic withdrawal of workers' social rights. A critical theoretical perspective was adopted, drawing on Srnicek (2016) to understand platform capitalism, Abílio (2021) to understand uberization and the uberized individual, and Rosenfield (2004) to understand the meanings of autonomy. Thus, the data collected through semi-structured interviews reveal the existence of limited autonomy, subject to opaque mechanisms of algorithmic control, in addition to the fragility of collective organization and the absence of social protection. The study contributes to the sociological debate by demonstrating how the discourse of flexibility conceals profound forms of exploitation and lack of protection, and by giving visibility to workers' strategies of resistance and adaptation.