Moral Economies of Worth and Symbolic Boundaries in the Construction of Racial Hierarchies in the Platform Economy: An Example of Latvian Food Delivery Gig Workers

ABSTRACT This article examines how platform capitalism fosters racialization in Latvia, a country with limited prior experience with diverse immigrant groups but increasing reliance on immigrant labor. Based on unexpected evidence from a study of gig work among food delivery couriers in Riga, Latvia's capital, this paper explains the construction of racial hierarchies based on “moral boundaries” (Lamont 1992, 2000) in the platform economy. Analysis of the in‐depth interviews with food delivery gig workers and publicly available online communication among couriers in online forums allows us to demonstrate how the anxiety of the local couriers about their economic subsistence and social status translates into symbolic boundary work, whereby local couriers argue their moral superiority over immigrant couriers from South Asia and Africa based on work ethic. Our findings shed some light on how platforms' business model, specifically in the moment of “tightening the belt” (Animento 2024), shapes racialized moral economies of worth in the platform economy.