Weapons of the Riders: Everyday Algorithmic Resistance of Migrant Food-Delivery Workers in China's Gig Economy

Building on James Scott's theory of everyday resistance, this article investigates how Chinese migrant food-delivery drivers respond and negotiate algorithmic exploitation and precarity under the double repressive environment. Drawing from two stages of ethnographic research, this article reveals a co-evolution of everyday algorithmic resistance by migrant drivers and platforms' innovations in algorithmic management. This article identifies three dimensions of everyday algorithmic resistance forged and adopted by food-delivery drivers in response to strict algorithmic control and precarity, which include dodge-algorithm, leverage-algorithm and subvert-algorithm. These dimensions of resistance represent a complex repertoire of resisting tactics that drivers develop, both individually and in small groups, to undermine the domination and platform power structure. Additionally, this article unveils a 'tug-of-war' interactive process, wherein platforms continuously strive to suppress resistance and retain control by iteratively updating and fine-tuning algorithmic management. These findings contribute to understanding complex power relations by incorporating everyday resistance into a dynamic and interactive framework in platform-mediated gig economy.