The paper first looks at the phenomenology of platform work through the theoretical lens of refeudalisation. In the first part of the paper, this concept is critically discussed with reference to the theoretical debate surrounding it. The perspective it offers constitutes a fruitful starting point not to highlight a phantom return to the past, but to underline how the expressions of contemporary capitalism—especially digital and platform capitalism—are innervated by contradictions and mixtures of heterogeneous elements in its global development. Subsequently, the paper examines the dynamics of inclusion of platform labour, noting how this has become the privileged space for the migrant workforce and highlighting the modes of adverse incorporation that underlie it. Finally, in support of these theoretical interpretations, the paper presents the case of digital caporalato as an emblematic and particularly illuminating expression of the forms of refeudalisation of work and predatory inclusion of migrant labour in the gig economy.
2 Refeudalisation of Work
In recent years, a debate has been sparked among social scientists as to whether or not the idea of refeudalisation is an appropriate way to capture the current transformations of work and society. This idea should not be interpreted as a mere mechanical return to premodern patterns or a simplistic comparison with feudal Europe. At the heart of the refeudalisation concept lies a paradoxical modernity where the rapid global advancement of certain social processes, such as digitisation or platform capitalism, coincides with an escalation in the intensity of labour exploitation along global value chains. This juxtaposition often points to shocking outcomes, especially considering the fact that there are now more slaves and forced labourers than at any other point in human history (Bodei, 2019; Neckel, 2020; Volscho & Kelly, 2012). This process is to be conceived as paradoxical in nature, as it entails the resurgence of premodern social models as a consequence of modernisation (Chakrabarty, 2007; Neckel, 2020). The concept of refeudalisation, as elucidated by the scholars who employ it, serves primarily as a means to escape the limitations of a linear understanding of history and the univocal trajectory of socioeconomic processes, thereby emphasising their inherent contradictions. In that sense, it represents an insightful metaphor to avoid the so-called trajectorism trap, that is the idea that history and modernity have a unique direction and an ineluctable telos (Appadurai, 2013; Borghi & Peterlongo, 2023).
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G. PETERLONGO