THE WORK OF DELIVERY RIDERS IN DIGITAL APPS IN SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION IN THE NORTHEAST

Abstract

Work studies have increasingly dedicated themselves to understanding the activity of delivery people through digital apps. The presence of research results in national and international academic conferences, in articles for scientific journals, in undergraduate course conclusion monographs and in theses and dissertations in various Postgraduate Programs is increasing. Within this wide range, this article brings brief considerations with a focus on the bibliographical production of undergraduate courses and Postgraduate Programs collected in the collection of the Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) of Universities in the Northeast, and articles found on the CAPES Journal Portal and on Google Scholar base. We are interested in understanding the profile of such studies on delivery drivers through publications: which areas of knowledge have been used to investigate the work of delivery drivers? Since when did delivery people become a topic of scientific interest? What research methods and/or techniques have been used? What is the main focus of the issues addressed? To what extent have theoretical-conceptual contributions about the capitalist mode of production been used in publications about delivery drivers in the Northeast? These are some questions that this article addresses. Before going into them, we dedicate a first section to reflections on the articulation of platform capitalism with forms of super-exploitation of the workforce in the Northeast, in order to have a “background” with which research on delivery drivers in this region has to deal with. Final considerations summarize the text’s reflections.