What Do Platform Workers Think About the Law? The Ambiguous Legal Status and Legal Consciousness of On-Demand Food Delivery Riders in China

ABSTRACT Chinese law has not yet clearly addressed the employment status of platform workers, whose work is allocated to individuals in a specific geographical area via location-based apps. This study investigates how the workers themselves, as the key constituent group, understand their legal status. Drawing on interviews with food delivery riders and participant observation, it applies legal consciousness theory to explore how riders interpret, construct, and invoke law in a largely unregulated area. The findings reveal that riders, despite holding contradictory perceptions of their work arrangements and legal status, more often rely on informal expressions of dissatisfaction or anger and acts of ‘everyday resistance’ than formal claims or collective action. The study shows that riders’ legal consciousness is shaped by their’ ambiguous legal status and socioeconomic position and is grounded more in rules than in rights. Moreover, current legal responses reinforce existing social inequalities, leaving riders in a precarious position with limited recourse.