Cooperativismo de plataforma: uma análise da federação nacional das cooperativas de mobilidade urbana (Liga Coop)

Abstract

Over the past decade, we have witnessed the spread of digital service platforms worldwide. In this context, the processes of uberization, which point to the intensification of informalization and precariousness of work, and platformization, which reflects a growing dependence on digital platforms, have profoundly affected contemporary social and labor dynamics. In response to this scenario, platform cooperativism has emerged as an alternative based on principles of self-management, decent work, and the valorization of collectivity, yet still marked by limitations and contradictions within the capitalist system. Given the novelty of platform cooperatives and the need to expand knowledge about these initiatives in Brazil, our research focused on a cooperative federation of drivers founded in 2023, the Federação Nacional das Cooperativas de Mobilidade Urbana (Liga Coop). This research aimed to analyze the organizational forms of Liga Coop and the resources the federation has been mobilizing to confront the working conditions imposed by major digital platforms such as Uber. Methodologically, the study was based on qualitative research, including semi-structured interviews, observation, and document analysis. The results indicate that Liga Coop is developing rapidly, but is marked by instabilities and negotiations between cooperative principles, market demands, and the material conditions of operation. Its forms of resistance are expressed through the collective reorganization of dimensions of work unilaterally controlled by platforms, as well as through the ambivalent practices of workers who combine the cooperative model with conventional apps.