Conflict, democratization of technological applications and algorithm control. Transformative practices in platform cooperativism

Abstract

This article examines the case of the Mensakas cooperative in Barcelona, a cooperative of "last mile" delivery women, as a case that allows to explore the trajectory of economic practices that are born with vocation of transformation of the most controversial aspects of the business model presented by the platform economy. The article explores three key moments of the cooperative: 1) the period before its creation, in which a conflict occurs between the distribution platforms and their workers, 2) the period of creation of the cooperative and strategies to appropriate an app and 3) entry as a partner of Coopcycle, a French cooperative dedicated to the development of an app for specific use for the cooperative sector dedicated to distribution. The ethnographic approach from which this study aims to define the antagonistic values that were born during the conflict and will be fundamental for their identification as transformative practices. These values refer to the field of labour rights, leaving in the background others referring to the processes of technological appropriation of the beginnings of the cooperative, which are intended to be made visible in this study. The processes experienced in the cooperative around the needs of using an app, show how the main axis of the platform economy becomes the key aspect to transform the platform economy. The article questions aspects such as financing, knowledge and strategies developed by Mensakas and other similar experiences to appropriate an app, the debates and tensions arising from this process, and the other forms of technology-related relationships arising from the antagonistic values on which it is based.