Mapping Platform Cooperatives : Identities, Dimensions and Challenges

Digital solidarity economies have emerged as a response to the dominant platform capitalism of the past three decades. Despite a growing body of scholarship, the identities, dimensions, and challenges faced by platform cooperatives remain poorly understood. Notably, there are no quantitative studies based on a large number of platform cooperatives. This paper presents the first empirically grounded, aggregate mapping of the features of platform cooperatives. It distinguishes between platform cooperativism and platform cooperatives, addressing definitional issues that have emerged since the concept was first introduced. Drawing on the first international economic survey of platform cooperatives, data from 86 businesses across six continents illuminate the identities, dimensions, and challenges of 27 active platform cooperatives. Finally, the paper outlines four major challenges commonly faced by platform cooperatives: legal, financial, governance, and market-related.