Uberization and uberized work: the dehumanization of modern work

Through media exposure and political discourse, the potential uberization of work in our societies, as well as the pitfalls and promises of uberized work have led to numerous debates over the past 15 years. However, there is currently no consensual definition of these phenomena. In order to facilitate their scientific study in work and organizational psychology (WOP), we propose to define these objects by conducting an overview of the international literature that can be associated with them in the human and social sciences (e.g., human resources management, work sociology). We establish that uberization designates a macrosocial phenomenon conveying the naturalization of the neoliberal frame of mind within the world of work – that is, the strict application of market logic to everything, including human beings. Following this assertion, uberized work refers to an emerging organization of work whereby prescriptive power is installed and maintained over a workforce of independent workers by an organization thanks to digital tools (such as platforms and algorithms). Both of these phenomena imply a reduction of workers to mere economic variables. Thus, we propose a novel theoretical framework according to which the psychological process of dehumanization may, in spite of its harmful consequences, explain their social and ideological reproduction. In addition to offering promising avenues in WOP, the study of uberization and its incarnations seems all the more crucial that it calls the value of subjectivity within the modern world of work into question.