“Seja você mesmo seu próprio patrão” - O caso Uber e a uberização do trabalho no capitalismo de plataformas

Abstract

The present research intends to investigate the process of uberization of work, approaching the historical context and the roots of this phenomenon through the analyses of authors from the sociology of work who attest that this process has been ongoing for decades. It is possible to verify that the informality and precariousness of work don’t start with applications and are not limited to them. The case of the application Uber is taken as a basis to illustrate the qualitative transformations in labor and on workers, demonstrating through IBGE data over the years the growth of informality and consequently the profound precariousness of work that are structured as rule through state-institutionalized reforms. Through this overview, we seek to understand the dynamics of the individual transport application driver through their subjective perspective regarding the workday, employment relationship, remuneration, penalties, management, etc., in addition to investigating the trajectory in the job market. Field research was carried out in Campinas - SP using the qualitative method in interviews guided by a semi-structured script to verify the hypothesis of a contradiction between the search for autonomy of uberized workers and the subordinate self-management promoted by the platforms. The analyzes demonstrate that the contradiction exists, considering that the formal job market cannot cover the demand of these workers who seek to conquer their own autonomy. Furthermore, app-companies establish themselves and appropriate the social imaginary endowed with politically legitimized neoliberal ideology to monopolize the market, intensifying the informalization of work in all sectors and professions.