Back in the saddle: New project on cycle deliveries and platform work

It took me a detour with an extraordinary project on migration before returning to my fate, cycling research. This time I embark on a 3 years journey in Manchester, Lyon and Cluj-Napoca to research the work of cycle couriers in the app-based gig economy. This is an Early Career Fellowship from Leverhulme Trust, whom I thank for selecting my idea. You can read below a brief summary of my ambition, as outlined in the proposal:

The mobile work of cycle couriers contracted by app-based food delivery companies has become an urban fixture. This research aims to study the gig economy and its reconfiguration of urban spaces by investigating the management, solidarity and resistance of cycle couriers in three European cities. It will engage in gig work to better understand these communities, how their members develop strategies for better working life, assist them in forging links with stakeholders with vested interests in their cause and promote alternatives to the gig economy. The project also seeks to understand how new platform technologies alter food consumption habits.