The gig economy , which encompasses occasional and on-call jobs, is often presented as a model based on flexibility and autonomy. Among these jobs, that of food delivery riders has become one of the most representative. Riders appear as independent workers, free to choose when to connect, which orders to accept, and how to organize their time. This image, however, is very different from the concrete experience of working on platforms.
The performance of work is, in fact, regulated by rating systems, GPS tracking, performance metrics, and bonuses that continuously guide worker behavior. It is in this gap between the rider's apparent autonomy and the actual control over him that the rider's paradox emerges : a seemingly free individual, yet operating within an invisible algorithmic logic.
To understand this paradox, two theories in the study of digital society are useful: Gilles Deleuze's theory of the control society and Shoshana Zuboff's concept of surveillance capitalism . According to Deleuze, contemporary societies are no longer based on rigid rules and closed institutions , but on fluid and continuous forms of control that modulate individual freedom. Zuboff, on the other hand, shows how digital capitalism is based on the extraction of behavioral data, transforming every action into an economic resource. The rider is right at the center of these two mechanisms.
Deleuze and the modern worker
Gilles Deleuze's thought helps us understand the changes characterizing contemporary society and, consequently, the transformation of the figure of the worker. The philosopher distinguishes between disciplinary societies, typical of the 18th and 19th centuries, and control societies, which characterize the present. Disciplinary societies were based on closed spaces and rigid rules . Schools, factories, barracks, and hospitals functioned as places of disciplinary training and were therefore based on an " analogical" way of functioning (rigid structures, precise timeframes, a set sequence of steps to follow).
In control societies, however, the functioning or language becomes numerical (control is not direct but based on scores, statistics, and data). Power is no longer exercised through direct orders, but through continuous modulation that makes control more flexible and widespread. Deleuze compares this new form of power to a "gas" that expands everywhere and uses rewards, challenges, and bonuses, called a corporation.
The rider: individual or “dividuo”?
The rider perfectly embodies this transformation. He doesn't receive orders from a boss, but finds himself in an algorithmic environment that records and monitors his every action. He can only work while maintaining certain numerical values : score, statistical reliability, predictable availability. The freedom to choose when to work thus transforms into conditional freedom . The algorithm doesn't give direct orders on what to do, but directs the rider in his work choices. Some become more advantageous than others. The rider ends up self-adapting to the functioning and demands of the platform, internalizing those that regulate his numerical value.
The delivery and the numerical value of the rider
Delivery is also an example of this dynamic. The order received is not a command, but a temporary opportunity . Accepting it keeps the numerical score constant, refusing it decreases it. During the delivery, the rider's body is translated into data: speed, route, times, detours. Ultimately, the customer's rating, averaged, becomes a selection criterion for receiving notifications for future deliveries . The rider is no longer an individual, but a collection of numbers and statistical indices updated in real time. Their freedom in their work decisions depends on their ability to maintain a sufficiently high numerical value.
Zuboff and Surveillance Capitalism
Shoshana Zuboff's perspective helps us understand the economics of this form of labor. In surveillance capitalism, value derives not only from the task performed, but above all from the data generated during the activity.
In the case of riders, every action generates a surplus of information that goes beyond the simple organization of work. Indeed, by accepting an order, following one route rather than another, or working at certain times, the rider generates data that allows the platform to predict workers' future availability and manage their workload more profitably.
Bonuses as a means of controlling platforms
Bonuses can be seen as a mix of Deleuze's and Zuboff's thinking. The platform offers bonuses, challenges, and temporary rewards as earning opportunities, but they also function as tools to guide worker behavior. Notifications often indicate unavailable areas, times of high demand, or unfavorable weather conditions. In these cases, the bonus isn't just a reward, but a way to monetize risk : difficult conditions like rain, late hours, or unavailable areas are transformed into extra earnings for the rider who takes on that risk instead of the platform. This leads not only to additional deliveries, but also to new data on who is willing to work in difficult conditions and at what price.
The Rider Paradox in Digital Society
The work of riders in the gig economy represents a key example of the transformations of power in digital society . Deleuze shows how control no longer occurs through direct orders, but by continuously monitoring the worker's possible choices. Zuboff, on the other hand, explains how this control is connected to a form of economy based on data extraction. The rider creates value not only through deliveries, but through all the data and information produced during their work. Bonuses function as a mechanism that pushes riders to remain active precisely when the platform needs them most, thus fueling the very cycle that makes them necessary. The rider's freedom does not disappear entirely, but is shaped by the algorithm . The rider thus becomes a symbolic figure of digital society: a worker who appears autonomous but actually operates within a digital system that conditions him.
Maddaloni Domenico Pio
Bibliographic and web references
- Deleuze G., Postscript on the societies of control.
- Zuboff S., The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, New York, Public Affairs. Rosenblat
- A., Stark L., Algorithmic Labor Management: The Case of Uber, International Journal of Communication.
- Boniface F., Being a rider: Practices, knowledge, and trajectories of an emerging profession.
