| dc.description.abstract | The last decades have seen the rise of a new kind of industry. Companies like Foodora and Wolt utilize the internet, organizational techniques, and technological advances in new ways, creating new forms of work. Delivery cyclists are taking over our streets fast, coloring Oslo blue and pink. Behind these cyclists, there are algorithms isolating them from their employers and all other parts of production. Everything they do is translated to numbers by the algorithm, making them measurable and auditable. They are treated like commodities, reduced to the time and energy they can save for consumers. All the while delivery cyclists are presented with the idea that delivery cycling gives them freedom, autonomy, and flexibility. They are not completely convinced by this, but so is the nature of reality, always negotiated. Looking forward, into their futures, they imagine a better version of reality, figuring that things should probably change. The reality of their situation is precarious, at least for the self-employed cyclists. They endure an asymmetrical relationship with their employers, lacking predictability, security, and a proper safety net. They are unable to organize, making them at odds with the Norwegian societal model. It is from this vantage that they imagine taking a step into a new reality. To do this they have to resist their current mode of being. Through tactics performed without drawing the attention of employers, as well as openly performed, they push the limits set by bosses and algorithms. The algorithm expects them to behave a certain way, behaving like good employees. The promises of flexibility, freedom, and also entrepreneurship, are nudging them along that same path. When delivery cyclists fight for a tariff, manipulate the algorithm for breaks, or resist in other ways they are in negotiations with the algorithm and their bosses. They are negotiating what the reality of delivery cycling should entail. Employers are resisting such resistance as best they can. Since losing ground would be accepting that the very reality they are creating could change. | eng |