Women driving: the working conditions of drivers who use digital platforms in Paraíba

as condições de trabalho das motoristas que utilizam plataformas digitais na Paraíba

Abstract

As a consequence of the advancement of information technologies and the use of transportation and service applications, the worsening of job insecurity and the loss of labour rights has been promoted, configuring the phenomenon of the uberization of work. This problem signals the accelerated transformation in the reorganization of social labour relations in the 21st century, with more pronounced impacts when we consider the gender marker. In this context, this article analyzes the conditions of women's work from the use of transport applications in the state of Paraíba. In addition to presenting an interdisciplinary theoretical approach on the relationship between gender and work, field research was conducted with women drivers for apps in the cities of Campina Grande and João Pessoa. The results indicated that the work of these drivers emerges as an alternative to unemployment and in more precarious working conditions. The uberization of work reconfigures gender inequality in the labour sphere as women seek flexible strategies for professional insertion to reconcile multiple activities in the scope of reproductive and productive work, which can imply informal and precarious work, reinforcing a productive model that legitimizes the exploitation and devaluation of women's work.