Scholarlink

<p>This study investigates how the DiDi driver interface in Egypt functions as a site of semiotic governance and platform-mediated legal subjectivity. Drawing on Latour’s theory of semiotic delegation as reported (Latour in: Graves-Brown (ed) The Berlin Key or How to Do Words with Things, London, Routledge, 2000) and Wagner and Linhares’ rhizomatic legal semiotics (Wagner in Int J Digital Law Governance 1:81–90, 2024; Wagner in Int J Semiot Law 38:1115–1120, 2025), the research conceptualizes DiDi not as a neutral technological tool, but as a distributed legal actor that encodes behavior, regulates access, and shapes subjectivity through algorithmic prescriptions. Fairclough’s theory of discourse operationalization (Fairclough in Discourse Society 4:133–168, 1993); as reported (Fairclough in Analyzing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research, London, Routledge, 2003) further reveals how platform discourse naturalizes precarity and diffuses responsibility through linguistic and visual cues. Adopting a semio-discursive methodology and walkthrough analysis of the DiDi rider and driver apps, this study treats the interface as a layered text—where metrics, scripts, and silent commands operate as juridico-symbolic instruments. The findings show how the platform enacts moral and legal governance by constructing drivers as metricized subjects whose value is judged by performance indicators such as acceptance rates, cancellation penalties, and algorithmic visibility. By embedding governance into the interface itself, DiDi exemplifies a hybrid legal regime where control is exerted through code rather than contract. The study concludes by proposing the application of this framework to other ride-hailing platforms and gig economies and calls for further research into the affective and neoliberal dimensions of platform surveillance, nudging, and digital subject formation.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

A Tapestry of Evolving Signs: Platformized Labour and the Delegation of Moral Order

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月14日

查看全文
  • Rania Magdi Fawzy

摘要

This study investigates how the DiDi driver interface in Egypt functions as a site of semiotic governance and platform-mediated legal subjectivity. Drawing on Latour’s theory of semiotic delegation as reported (Latour in: Graves-Brown (ed) The Berlin Key or How to Do Words with Things, London, Routledge, 2000) and Wagner and Linhares’ rhizomatic legal semiotics (Wagner in Int J Digital Law Governance 1:81–90, 2024; Wagner in Int J Semiot Law 38:1115–1120, 2025), the research conceptualizes DiDi not as a neutral technological tool, but as a distributed legal actor that encodes behavior, regulates access, and shapes subjectivity through algorithmic prescriptions. Fairclough’s theory of discourse operationalization (Fairclough in Discourse Society 4:133–168, 1993); as reported (Fairclough in Analyzing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research, London, Routledge, 2003) further reveals how platform discourse naturalizes precarity and diffuses responsibility through linguistic and visual cues. Adopting a semio-discursive methodology and walkthrough analysis of the DiDi rider and driver apps, this study treats the interface as a layered text—where metrics, scripts, and silent commands operate as juridico-symbolic instruments. The findings show how the platform enacts moral and legal governance by constructing drivers as metricized subjects whose value is judged by performance indicators such as acceptance rates, cancellation penalties, and algorithmic visibility. By embedding governance into the interface itself, DiDi exemplifies a hybrid legal regime where control is exerted through code rather than contract. The study concludes by proposing the application of this framework to other ride-hailing platforms and gig economies and calls for further research into the affective and neoliberal dimensions of platform surveillance, nudging, and digital subject formation.