On the last mile: logistical urbanism and the transformation of labour

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Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation

Volume 13, Issue 1

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On the last mile: logistical urbanism and the transformation of labour

research-article

Author(s): Moritz Altenried

Publication date (Print): 1 April 2019

Journal: Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: delivery, labour, last mile, platforms, gig economy, digital Taylorism, logistics, urban space

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Abstract

In recent years, the last mile of delivery has become a crucial focus of logistical operations in urban contexts due to the rise of online shopping and the spread of platforms including Amazon to Foodora, Deliveroo and others. This article claims that the increasing importance and time-sensitivity of delivery reconfigures both urban spaces and labour relations. Through an analysis of labour relations in different segments of last mile delivery it argues that we are observing profound changes driven most importantly by digital technologies and the hyper-flexible employment relations facilitated by online platforms. Labour on the last mile is increasingly characterised by intense time pressure, standardisation, algorithmic management and digitally enabled surveillance on the one hand, and platform-driven precarisation and flexibilisation on the other. These developments can also be observed in other areas of logistical labour and across different industries. Hence, labour on the last mile might be understood as a specific but important expression of a broader tendency of the transformation of labour in digital capitalism. At the same time, the new importance of the last mile also signals changes in the production of urban space in the context of platform-driven forms of production, circulation and consumption, that are discussed as an emerging logistical urbanism.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50010512

Journal ID (jcode): workorgalaboglob

Title: Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN: 1745-641X

ISSN: 1745-6428

Publication date (Print): 1 April 2019

Volume: 13

Issue: 1 ( doiID: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.13.issue-1 )

Pages: 114-129

Article

Publisher ID: workorgalaboglob.13.1.0114

DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.13.1.0114

SO-VID: 120e1f34-7543-4aa3-9a62-e0b8b02ac5fe

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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lang eng

ScienceOpen disciplines: Sociology,Labor law,Political science,Labor & Demographic economics,Political economics

Keywords: digital Taylorism,gig economy,logistics,platforms,last mile,labour,delivery,urban space

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Allen, J. (2017) ‘The UPS strike, 20 years later', Jacobin, April 4. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/08/ups-strike-teamsters-logistics-labor-unions-work.

[2] Altenried, M. (2016) ‘Le container et l'algorithme: la logistique dans le capitalisme global’ [Container and algorithm. Logistics in global capitalism], Revue Période, February 11. Accessed July 9, 2018 from http://revueperiode.net/le-container-et-lalgorithme-la-logistique-dans-le-capitalisme-global/.

[3] Altenried, M. (2017) ‘Die Plattform als Fabrik. Crowdwork, Digitaler Taylorismus und die Vervielfältigung der Arbeit’ [The platform as factory. Digital Taylorism and the multiplication of labour], PROKLA. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialwissenschaft, 47 (2):175-92.

[4] Bonacich, E. & J.B. Wilson (2008) Getting the Goods: Ports, Labor, and the Logistics Revolution, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.

[5] Brown, P., H. Lauder & D. Ashton (2012) The Global Auction: The Broken Promises of Education, Jobs, and Incomes, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[6] Bruder, J. (2015) ‘These workers have a new demand: Stop watching us', The Nation, May 27. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.thenation.com/article/these-workers-have-new-demand-stop-watching-us/.

[7] Bundesverband Paket und Expresslogistik (2017) KEP-Studie 2017-Analyse des Marktes in Deutschland, Berlin: Bundesverband Paket und Expresslogistik.

[8] Burnett, G.D. (2012) ‘Coming full circle', Cabinet, 47 (Fall):73-77.

[9] Cowen, D. (2014) The Deadly Life of Logistics: Mapping Violence in Global Trade, Minneapolis and London: University of Minnesota Press.

[10] de Certeau, M. (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life, Berkeley: University of California Press.

[11] Frank, M. (2014) ‘How telematics has completely revolutionized the management of fleet vehicles', Entrepreneur, October 20. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/237453.

[12] Grappi, G. (2016) Logistica [Logistics], Rome: Ediesse.

[13] Haidinger, B. (2012) On the Move in Global Delivery Chains: Labour Relations and Working Conditions in the Parcel Delivery Industries of Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic and Hungary, Vienna: Forschungs- und Beratungsstelle Arbeitswelt.

[14] Head, S. (2005) The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age, New York: Oxford University Press.

[15] Head, S. (2014) Mindless: Why Smarter Machines are Making Dumber Humans, New York: Basic Books.

[16] Hern, A. (2016) ‘Amazon claims first successful Prime Air drone delivery', The Guardian, December 14. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/14/amazon-claims-first-successful-prime-air-drone-delivery.

[17] Holst, H. & I. Singe (2013) ‘Ungleiche Parallelwelten - Zur Organisation von Arbeit in der Paketzustellung’ [Unequal parallel worlds: On the organisation of labour in parcel delivery], Arbeits-und Industriesoziologische Studien, 6 (2):41-60.

[18] Huws, U. (2016) ‘Logged labour: A new paradigm of work organisation?', Work Organisation, Labour and Globalisation, 10 (1):7-26.

[19] Huws, U., N.H. Spencer & S. Joyce (2016) ‘Crowd work in Europe. Preliminary results from a survey in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands', FEPS Studies. Accessed July 9, 2018 from http://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/files/10749125/crowd_work_in_europe_draft_report_last_version.pdf.

[20] Joerss, M., J. Schröder, F. Neuhaus, C. Klink & F. Mann (2016) ‘Parcel delivery. The future of the last mile', McKinsey Report. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/travel%20transport%20and%20logistics/our%20insights/how%20customer%20demands%20are%20reshaping%20last%20mile%20delivery/parcel_delivery_the_future_of_last_mile.ashx.

[21] Kaplan, E. (2015) ‘The spy who fired me', Harper's Magazine. Accessed July 9, 2018 from http://harpers.org/archive/2015/03/the-spy-who-fired-me/.

[22] Kässi, O. & V. Lehdonvirta (2016) ‘Online labour index: Measuring the online gig economy for policy and research', Paper presented at Internet, Politics & Policy 2016, September 22-23, Oxford.

[23] Kramer, B. & J. Frisse (2017) ‘Flex und Fertig'[Flex and ready], Die Zeit, November 24. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.zeit.de/arbeit/2017-11/amazon-flex-arbeitsbedingungen-zusteller-bezahlung-tarif-lohn.

[24] LeCavalier, J. (2016) The Rule of Logistics: Walmart and the Architecture of Fulfillment, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

[25] Lopez, E. (2017) ‘Why is the last mile so inefficient?', Supply Chain Dive, May 22. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/last-mile-spotlight-inefficient-perfect-delivery/443089/.

[26] Lyster, C. (2016) Learning from Logistics: How Networks Change Our Cities, Basel: Birkhäuser.

[27] Marx, K. (2005) Grundrisse: Foundations of the Critique of Political Economy, London: Penguin.

[28] Nachtwey, O. & P. Staab (2015) ‘Die Avantgarde des digitalen Kapitalismus’ [The avant-garde of digital capitalism], Mittelweg, 36 (24):59-84.

[29] Neilson, B. (2012) ‘Five theses on understanding logistics as power', Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 13 (3):322-39.

[30] NPR (2014) ‘To increase productivity, UPS monitors drivers’ every move', Radio feature by J. Goldstein, April 17. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/04/17/303770907/to-increase-productivity-ups-monitors-drivers-every-move.

[31] Raffetseder, E.-M., S. Schaupp & P. Staab (2017) ‘Kybernetik und Kontrolle’ [Cybernetics and control], PROKLA. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialwissenschaft, 47 (2):229-48.

[32] Rossiter, N. (2016) Software, Infrastructure, Labor: A Media Theory of Logistical Nightmares, New York: Routledge.

[33] Sassen, S. (2013) The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo, Princeton: Princeton University Press.

[34] Smith, R., P.A. Marvy & J. Zerolnick (2014) The Big Rig Overhaul. Restoring Middle-Class Jobs at America's Ports through Labor Law Enforcement, New York: National Employment Law Project.

[35] Staples, W.G. (2014) Everyday Surveillance: Vigilance and Visibility in Postmodern Life, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

[36] Tassinari, A. & V. Maccarrone (2017) ‘Striking the Startups', Jacobin, January 23. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/01/foodora-strike-turin-gig-economy-startups-uber/.

[37] Tönnesmann, J. (2016) ‘Ein Land im Lieferkrieg’ [A country in delivery war], Die Zeit, May 13. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.zeit.de/2016/20/logistik-digital-amazon-roboter-drohnen.

[38] United Parcel Service of America (2016) ‘ORION: The algorithm proving that left isn't right', UPS Compass, October 5. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://compass.ups.com/ups-fleet-telematics-system.

[39] United Parcel Service of America (2018) ‘Annual Report on Form 10K', SEC Filing for 2017, February. Accessed July 9, 2018 from http://www.investors.ups.com/static-files/8d1241ae-4786-42e2-b647-bf34e2954b3e.

[40] US Patent 9305280 B1 (2014) ‘Airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery', granted 2016 to Amazon Technologies, Berg et al. Accessed July 9, 2018 from https://www.google.com/patents/US9305280.

[41] Woodcock, J. (2016) ‘Deliveroo and UberEATS: Organising in the gig economy in the UK', Connessione Precarie, November 11. Accessed July 9, 2018 from http://www.connessioniprecarie.org/2016/11/11/deliveroo-and-ubereats-organising-in-the-gig-economy-in-the-uk/.