Workers resist algorithmic control by asserting mastery over their trade.

Evidence

Since the algorithm decides the route and timeline, it is incompatible with our trade. They [Amazon, t. a.] think that algorithm moves us, but for me, it’s just a tool: I am a master of my trade, and it’s the algorithm that should ultimately help me. I am not the instrument of the algorithm, it’s the opposite. But for them [Amazon, t. a.], I am the instrument. (ID3) Individualization at work, contractual fragmentation and the diverse backgrounds of the drivers acted as constraints, inhibiting the development of a shared set of grievances and the elaboration of collective action. — Donatella della Porta et al., Mobilizing Against the Odds, 104

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the human-versus-machine instrumental relation theme found in Zamyatin’s We, where individuals are reduced to instruments of a total system. — connects to: Algorithmic management strips workers of any human authority to contest discipline — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 119; Workers resist procedural change because it threatens coping routines, not novelty — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 843; Workers resist management rationing only when it threatens their own preferred practice — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 729 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Street-level workers actively resist managerial attempts to restrict their discretion #exemplifies (0.82) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 189
• Algorithmic management strips workers of any human authority to contest discipline #qualifies (0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 119
• Workers resist reform because it threatens routines that make the job bearable. #complicates (0.76) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 843
• Workers resist management rationing only when it threatens their own preferred practice #qualifies (0.75) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 729
• Workers resist procedural change because it threatens coping routines, not novelty #complicates (0.74) — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy, 843
• Individual resistance is too weak to counter coercive organizational pressure #complicates (0.73)
• Industrialized labor destroys manual skill and familiarity with things #complicates (0.72) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2307