Producing Speed on Demand: Reconfiguration of Space and Time in Food Delivery Platform Work

Existing IS research on platform work has narrowly focused on the managerial operations of algorithmic management or its business implications. Limited research has paid attention to the scalar effects and societal implications of platform work. In this study, we address the phenomenon of ‘speed’ in the on-demand economy through a qualitative study of Chinese food delivery workers. We construct a performative view of spatiotemporality to illustrate the reconfiguration of multiple spatiotemporal orders. The paper thus broadens the theorization of time and space in IS research and provides a more nuanced and critical understanding of platform work against the backdrop of structural inequality in platform capitalism.