UTOPCYCLE: THE SOCIAL MOVEMENT OF PLATFORM COOPERATIVES IN BIKE DELIVERY

In delivery sector, in contrast to the platform utopia of a “data-driven business”, cooperative platforms oppose the utopia of delivery without exploitation nor carbon emissions.

This project focuses on two cooperatives: Rayon9 in Liège and Les Cargonautes in Paris along with one international network Coopcycle. Its originality lies in understanding them both in the light of the concept of « embedding ».

These cooperative platforms are at the forefront of the “counter-movement” by which society is defending itself against “uberisation”.

But this complex and multi-directional process not only engages public authorities and regulation at a local, national or international level. It is also emerging from below, thanks to alternative socio-economic forms such as bike delivery cooperatives.

This project mobilizes the tools of the sociology of work and social movements in the theoretical framework of a political economy of (re-)embeddedness.

It makes the choice of an interdisciplinary approach to break down barriers between the fields of labour studies and social movement studies.

It goes beyond the state of the art by intending to operationalize the concept of embeddedness in the context of ""cyclologistical revolution"".

It proposes an European investigation in a participatory-design research where the problematization is built from the field.

This research protocol targets Rayon9 and Les Cargonautes both specializing in the last-mile sector e.g. deliveries by cargo bike with electric assistance. This last link in the chain is also the most expensive and the most polluting, creating a real logistical headache. This comparative ethnographic study is composed of two research axes.

First, it analyses the cyclologistical transformation of bike delivery in platform cooperatives highlighting its political dimensions.

Second, it aims to understand what makes re-embedding of bike delivery possible or not, addressing the challenge of inter-cooperation.