Fighting back the Algorithm: A Systematic Literature Review on Algoactivism

Algorithms increasingly manage and control workers. While this has many advantages for organizations, affected workers often feel alienated, suppressed, disadvantaged, and disempowered. To regain agency, find community or exploit algorithms to their advantage, workers engage in what has been referred to as Algoactivism. That is, individual and collective practices to bypass or manipulate algorithms. There is an increasing research interest in Algoactivism. However, research on Algoactivism is spread out across various disciplines and there is currently no overview of the breadth of resistance practices employed by individuals and collectives. Based on a systematic literature review, the paper at hand addresses this gap and offers an overview of current research on Algoactivism. We develop a model that describes the antecedents and practices in Algoactivism on individual and collective levels. Our findings shed light on the causes and forms of Algoactivism, the sensemaking of workers, and the external factors that affect it. We identify several avenues for future research.