Home care provision in dispute: Digital platforms and worker cooperatives in Spain

The commodification of long-term care in Spain is witnessing a new phase of commercialization, with the emergence of two new actors: digital platforms and worker cooperatives. These two business models with opposing philosophies are shaping a new scenario, making home-care provision a contested terrain. Whilst digital platforms operate on a for-profit basis, introducing a corporatization logic in management, cooperatives operate on a non-profit basis with the ethos of dignifying care work. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, this paper analyses the arrangements they establish, how their business models are embedded within state-funded programmes, and their influence on the formalization and professionalization of the sector. The paper argues that digital platforms allow a ‘selective formalization’ and a standardized professionalization model, while cooperatives promote formalization and a collectively constructed and situated professionalization.