The work of waiting: migrant labour in the fulfillment city

Drawing on research conducted with platform delivery workers in Washington D.C., this paper builds on the work of scholars committed to both describing and challenging the degrading conditions that so often define the gig economy. Acknowledging the importance of both employee classification and citizenship status to understanding the plight of platform-based migrant workers, this paper directs attention to the distinction that platform companies draw between what counts as work and what counts as waiting. This distinction is not only central to understanding the degrading nature of gig work, but to understanding the logic of what we describe as the fulfilment city – a city organized around the promise and potential of one-click, same day, or even same hour, delivery services. We end by arguing that questions of waiting and fulfillment are important for migration scholars concerned with the formation of 'immigrant counterpublics'.