Tseng, Yu-Shan (2025) Soft masculinities: the case of food delivery platform workers in Helsinki. In, Smets, Annelien and Ballon, Pieter (eds.) Handbook of Platform Urbanism. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 298-306. (doi:10.4337/9781035313761.00033).
Abstract
In this chapter, I examine how masculinities—qualities and capacities associated with men—are performed by food delivery platform workers in Helsinki. In doing so, I re-examine the platform work cultures to supplement platform urbanism’s focus on the political-economic problems of work, such as labour, power, and gender inequalities. I argue that platform work is also a cultural issue. The proposed concept of soft masculinities underscores how couriers’ bodies and desires are sites and agents of masculine competitiveness within a gamified food delivery work environment. Certain masculine capacities allow couriers to stay ‘competitive’ in the ‘game’; however, this embodiment simultaneously renders couriers’ bodies soft – seen as being and feeling vulnerable due to their proximity to the ‘game’. Acknowledging couriers’ soft bodies and desires helps (re)construct masculinities within gamified platform work cultures.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Identifiers
Catalogue record
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.