Comparative Ethnography of Digital Labor in Urban Global South and North

Thesis Abstract

This study investigates how digital labor is experienced, organized, and valued across urban settings in the Global South and Global North, addressing the problem of uneven labour processes, precarious formalization, and differing social norms that shape platform-mediated work. The aim is to compare meanings, conditions, and outcomes of digital labor among urban workers, platform managers, and local institutions to reveal structural and cultural factors that reproduce inequality, informality, and worker well-being. Specific objectives include (1) to map the composition and trajectories of digital labor in two metropolitan contexts, (2) to analyze working conditions, compensation regimes, and precarity indicators across sites, (3) to examine governance, regulation, and collective action dynamics shaping digital labor, (4) to identify coping strategies, skills development, and career mobility pathways, and (5) to theorize how transnational platforms interact with local labor ecologies to produce divergent yet interconnected outcomes. The research adopts a comparative ethnographic design integrating long-term field immersion, semi-structured interviews, and mixed-methods data collection. The study draws on a purposive sample of 120 participants in each city 60 platform workers (including ride-hailing, delivery, and microtask workers), 20 platform managers or policy liaison staff, and 20 local stakeholders (labor organizers, regulators, and NGO representatives). Data collection instruments include participant-observation logs, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions with workers (n=6 groups per city), platform policy documents, contractual terms, and publicly available regulatory texts. The data will be triangulated with quantitative indicators such as earnings dispersion, hours worked, and rating-based job stability captured through a structured survey (n=200 workers per city). Validity and reliability will be ensured through pilot testing of instruments, intercoder reliability checks for qualitative coding (kappa > 0.80), and respondent validation with a subset of participants. Analytical approaches will combine thematic analysis for interview and field notes, with regression analysis to explore associations between working conditions, earnings, and well-being indicators, and social network analysis to map connectivity and collective action patterns among workers. Theoretical framing integrates Carlände’s (2019) labor ecologies of digital platforms and Keith’s (2016) global urban labor regimes, complemented by World-Systems theory to interpret cross-border flows of capital and labor, and a capability approach to assess worker empowerment and access to opportunity. A cross-site conceptual model will be developed to capture interactions among structural constraints, platform governance, and individual agency. Expected findings include (a) distinct but overlapping labor ecologies in the Global South and North, with higher informality and seasonal volatility in the Global South and greater formalization technologies in the Global North; (b) differential effects of algorithmic management, rating systems, and gig-platform incentives on earnings volatility, job satisfaction, and perceived security; (c) divergent regulatory environments and worker organization patterns, with more visible collective action in one site and covert negotiation in another; (d) variation in skill development, mobility aspirations, and social support networks driven by urban context and access to digital infrastructure; and (e) evidence of translocal dynamics where platform strategies and standards migrate, reshaping local labor practices. The study contributes to knowledge by integrating ethnographic depth with quantitative indicators to illuminate how global digital labor platforms intersect with local urban economies and regulatory landscapes, thereby clarifying mechanisms of precarity, resilience, and mobility. It offers a theoretically informed comparative framework applicable to other metropolitan contexts and informs policy dialogues on fair compensation, social protection, and platform responsibility. Practical implications include guidance for regulators on balancing innovation with worker protections, for civil society in organizing digital workers, and for platforms seeking to align incentives with sustainable labor practices. The conclusion emphasizes the need for context-sensitive governance, rights-based protections, and inclusive design of platform-mediated work, with recommendations for policy harmonization, targeted social protection schemes, and multi-stakeholder partnerships to enhance formalization without undermining innovation.