加速社會的補缺行動：臺北食物外送員研究
Other Title
Prosthetic Actions in an Accelerated Society: A Study of Food Delivery Workers in Taipei
Journal
地理研究
Journal Issue
77
Start Page
21
End Page
48
Date Issued
2023-05
Author(s)
蔡宛芸
Abstract
當代的便捷物流服務，有賴勞動者與移動系統的搭配。然而，移動系統可能缺損失靈，導致勞工需要積極行動來彌補、橋接或調節既有配置和運作。本文以台北都會區兩大數位食物外送平台Foodpanda和Uber Eats為例，探討食物外送員勞動環境的複雜性，並以補缺行動概念掌握外送員克服阻礙的能動性。筆者訪談食物外送員、店家和平台人員，並實際參與勞動，發現外送員的勞動過程鑲嵌於數位平台、手機、機車、運送設備、道路、建築物、用戶及店家等元素的關聯配置，具有高度複雜性和不穩固特質，使外送員經常要以個人化的補缺行動來橋接縫隙。然而，在計件制導致的加速意識與機動車城市的加速構造下，仰賴個人化補缺行動可能加重外送員負擔和風險，潛藏著資方以承攬制將成本外部化的課題。換言之，補缺行動的能動性恰好彰顯勞工捲入加速社會的慣性而難以逃脫。
Contemporary convenient logistics services depend on the combination of workers and mobility systems. However, mobility systems can be deficient or malfunctioning, resulting in the need for workers to be proactive in making up, bridging, or adjusting existing configurations and operations. This paper takes Foodpanda and Uber Eats, the two major digital food delivery platforms in the Taipei metropolitan area, as examples to discuss the complexity of the labor environment of food delivery workers, and to grasp the agency of delivery workers to overcome obstacles with the concept of "prosthetic action". The authors interviewed food delivery staff, store and platform personnel, and actually participated in the delivery labor. It was found that the labor process of the delivery workers was embedded in the configurations of digital platforms, mobile phones, scooters, transportation equipment, roads, buildings, users and stores, with their highly complex and volatile nature, often requiring delivery drivers to bridge gaps with prosthetic actions. However, under the accelerated consciousness caused by the piece-rate system and the accelerated structure of the automobile city, relying on individualized prosthetic actions may increase the burden and risk of delivery workers, and there is a hidden threat that the employer will externalize the cost through the contracting system. In other words, the agency of prosthetic action just shows that laborers are involved in the inertia of the accelerating society of which they cannot escape from.
Subjects
移動性
移動系統
零工經濟
數位中介勞動
協作勞動
mobility
mobility system
gig economy
digital-mediated labor
collaborative labor
Type
journal article