Algorithmic management and the representation gap: digital labour platforms and worker organisation in algerian cities
Gestión algorítmica y la brecha de representación: plataformas digitales de trabajo y organización de los trabajadores en las ciudades argelinas
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51247/st.v9i3.841Keywords:
algorithmic management; platform work; union representation; digital collective action.Abstract
The expansion of digital labour platforms in Algerian cities has increased the use of algorithmic management systems that regulate workers’ performance, monitoring, and task allocation. The objective of this study was to examine how algorithmic management affects the representational capacity of trade unions and civil society organisations, identify emerging collective responses among platform workers, and assess the gap between traditional organisational frameworks and new forms of digital employment. The methodology adopted a critical mixed-methods design combining a survey of 280 platform workers in Algiers, Oran, and Annaba, 40 semi-structured interviews, and four months of netnographic observation across six digital worker networks. The results revealed that 86.4% of participants lacked effective organisational representation, while delivery workers experienced the highest levels of algorithmic control. Informal digital networks demonstrated greater mobilisation capacity than trade unions across several dimensions of collective power, although their sustainability remained limited. The study concludes that platform workers in Algeria face a structural representation deficit caused by the absence of institutional frameworks and technical capacities adapted to algorithmic management. A hybrid partnership model between formal organisations and digital networks is proposed to strengthen worker representation in platform-based labour markets
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