IN3’s Communication Networks & Social Change (CNSC) research group is pleased to invite you to the research Seminar «The Politics of the Gig Economy in Latin America: Idees, Interests and Institutions in the Path of Regulating Ride-Hailing Platforms in Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica» given by Ronald Sáenz PhD Student in the UOC's Doctoral Programme Online in Society, Technology, and Culture and predoctoral researcher at the CNSC.
The seminar will be held, in hybrid format, on Wednesday 7 June from 09:30 to 10:30 am (CEST) in Room 101 of the Research Hub (Building C).
Venue
Research Hub (Building C - Room 101)
Rambla del Poblenou, 154
08018 Barcelona
Espanya
When
07/06/2023 9.30h
Organized by
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, IN3's Communication Networks & Social Change (CNSC) research group
Program
Summary
This research proposal is part of the growing interest in the social, economic, and political changes and challenges raised by the development of platform capitalism around the world. The main aim is to analyse the arrival of ride-hailing platforms (like Uber, Cabify, and DiDi) in Latin America, to discover how this process of platformization has opened up new dynamics of public debate and political contention between traditional and emergent stakeholders, how challenged existing policy frameworks and has generated different regulatory paths across three specific countries of the region, namely: Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica. The dissertation's empirical insights rely on a mixed methods approach, combining quantitative data with a systematic qualitative structured comparison based on documentation and interviews. In line with the existing research, this thesis postulates that policy responses to the gig economy are varied even within similar regional contexts, such as Latin America. Also, it seeks to explain how ideational (firms' legitimacy, public debate, regulatory agenda), political (mobilization of stakeholders, corporate lobbying, political support), and institutional (path dependency in labour market regulation) factors help to understand the diversity on the platform regulation processes.
Researcher and predoctoral fellow in the Society, Technology & Culture (STC) programme at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3-UOC). Former lecturer at the School of Political Science (University of Costa Rica). He is currently working on projects related to Comparative Politics of Latin America, Digital Methods, Platform Studies, and STS Studies.