Abstract
Technology has long been a key determinant in shaping work organization and work processes. Within the past decade, it seems digital labor platforms have become a cultural crossroads where technology and work meet, and Uber is directing much of the discursive traffic.
Uber has “created a fundamental cultural shift in what it means to be employed” (p. 4), and this, Rosenblat argues, is why we should care about “Uberland.” While researchers elsewhere have dedicated substantive efforts to establish the size of the workforce and the platform economy’s impact on the labor market, Rosenblat remains squarely focused on Uber’s impact on the culture of work, technology, and business. She makes the claim that, as the on-demand darling of Silicon Valley, Uber’s influence is “vastly larger than its workforce numbers suggest” (p. 204). Her book documents key moments in the company’s rise to power and deepens our understanding of algorithmic management and data collection in an era of platform reintermediation. However, Uberland’s most important and perhaps distinctive contribution comes from Rosenblat’s critical analysis of these business practices alongside themes of technological exceptionalism (the special status Silicon Valley companies have received because they are technology companies), tech-washing (the notion that technological innovation necessarily constitutes beneficial progress), and entrepreneurship. The result is a 296-page, accessibly written detail of “Uberland” and the implications that it has for drivers, passengers, regulators, and the future of work.
The book draws on four years of ethnographic research, in which Rosenblat spent countless hours sleuthing on internet forums and participating in hundreds of rides and interviews with drivers and key informants in cities throughout North America. From this wealth of data and experience, she weaves individual driver’s stories into a broader narrative that demonstrates the heterogeneous experiences of working for Uber. A strength of Rosenblat’s book is how she attends to the impact of different regulations in the various cities where Uber operates. She notes, for example, that in cities with “less robust regulatory environments, drivers can afford to work part time” (p. 65) whereas in more restrictive areas, such as New York City, drivers are likely to work full-time and boast an occupational history in the taxi industry. Similarly, she discusses at length the vastly different implications that Uber’s unfavorable business practices have on full-time drivers who rely on Uber for their main source of income, comparing them with part-time drivers who may have other employment prospects and likely have “fewer economic incentives to advocate for better pay” (p. 53). Rosenblat does not shy away from regulatory nuances or themes like class, immigration status, gender, and race. Instead, she attempts to present an intersectional analysis that highlights individual positionality as crucially important in understanding why people choose to drive for Uber and how they feel about their work experience.
The diversity of driver identities and experiences contrasts sharply with the algorithmic management practices that Uber employs. Policies are implemented writ large; drivers have virtually no control over changes in the terms and conditions of their work; and in the event of a technological malfunction, passenger dispute, or an unpaid fare, Uber’s algorithmic management systems are uncompromising and systematically disadvantage drivers. In her discussion of management practices, Rosenblat juxtaposes Uber’s rhetoric and workers’ quotidian experiences of driving for the app. Some examples, such as how Uber undermines its claim of providing entrepreneurial opportunities and flexible work by threatening drivers with deactivation when they do not accept enough trips or if they receive bad reviews, have been well documented by Rosenblat and others in the media. But in a demonstration of her familiarity with the industry, Rosenblat also introduces a host of lesser-known practices that are troubling to drivers and passengers alike. These include the strategic dispatching of rides to collect data on road conditions even if the route is likely to be sub-optimal, or the company’s use of up-front pricing, which appears transparent but has been shown to bolster Uber’s profits at greater cost to the customer and with no additional benefit to the driver. Rosenblat’s analysis shows how Uber uses information asymmetries, first and foremost, to benefit its own bottom line. In “Uberland,” the once clear distinction between consumers and workers is increasingly muddled as both become data producers for, and users of, Uber’s technology. Countless examples demonstrate how the firm has capitalized on the individual interests of its users for its own gain—for example, by transforming its consumer base into a powerful lobby against regulation under the pretense of job creation, equality, or to combat intoxicated driving—but Rosenblat also seems to suggest that when platform exchanges become more transparent, the possibility of converging interests between workers and passengers can arise.
Since the publication of Uberland, the company has gone public; the questionable success of its initial public offering casts new shadows about the firm’s profitability prospects. Additionally, there appears to be a renewed effort aimed at regulation, which could have serious implications for Uber’s business model. Based on Rosenblat’s analysis of past efforts to regulate or rein in Uber (for example, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s attempt to limit the number of cars in New York City in 2015, or the #DeleteUber campaign that occurred in conjunction with the airport protests), we might interpret this as the most recent hiccup in a turbulent history and should expect Uber to withstand the storm and maintain its cultural prowess. Recent developments, however, suggest that Rosenblat may have too quickly dismissed the tenacity of drivers and regulators in their pursuit of more decent work. Municipal regulation in New York City and legal rulings out of California, for example, suggest that regulation is now finding traction. Whether Uber will remain a central feature in the platform economy remains to be seen, but, in Uberland, Rosenblat has aptly made her point: Uber has made its mark on how we work—and more important, on how we think about work.