UC Santa Barbara

This thesis explores app-based ride-share as an emblem of the digitized, post-Fordist economic transition. I review how its recent emergence connects to the 20th century taxi-dominated ride-hailing industry, and to broader post-War socioeconomic and political trends. Examining driver demographics in the context of the ride-share labor process, I assess how class, gender, racial, and other social hierarchies influence workplace outcomes. Throughout, I emphasize the modulating role of both algorithmic management and worker-to-worker exchange.