Cultura

Negotiating The Algorithm: Worker Agency And The Strategic Use Of Opacity In The Platform Economy: Evidence From Mexican Gig Workers

VOLUME 22, 2025

The Role of Targeted Infra-popliteal Endovascular Angioplasty to Treat Diabetic Foot Ulcers Using the Angiosome Model: A Systematic Review

VOLUME 6, 2023

Alberto Borbolla
Monica Felix
Salomon Dominguez

Abstract

This article investigates the asymmetric relationship between the algorithmic control of digital platforms and the agency of ride-hailing drivers, arguing that worker responses are not homogeneous but are instead organized along a continuum of differentiated agencies. Through a qualitative study based in Mexico City, five driver archetypes were identified, whose micro-strategies were analysed through the frameworks of structural vulnerability and strategic power. The main theoretical contribution of this study is the conceptualization of differentiated precarity, which posits that the vulnerability inherent in contractual instability is moderated by the driver's social trajectory and prior economic capital. Through the study it is demonstrated that profiles with greater capital (i.e., the Strategic, the Artisan, the Precarious in Transit) employ micro-strategies of arbitrage and shadow organizing to fragment algorithmic control. In contrast, those with critical economic dependence (i.e., the Algorithmic, the Excluded) resort to tactical submission and forced adaptation as survival strategies. The study concludes that autonomy in digital work is reconfigured as a struggle to insulate one's identity and resources from the system's total control. The resulting policy implications suggest the need for differentiated regulatory solutions that protect the most vulnerable segment. The study's limitations, including social desirability bias and its specific geographical focus, pave the way for future longitudinal research and the development of mixed-methods approaches to quantify the economic impact of collective agency.

Keywords : Digital Platforms; Algorithm Management; Worker Agency; Differentiated Precarity; Structural Vulnerability; Shadow Organizing..
Erin Saricilar
Lecture in accounting. University of Basrah, College of Administration and Economics, Department of Accounting.

Abstract

Atherosclerotic disease significantly impacts patients with type 2 diabetes, who often present with recalcitrant peripheral ulcers. The angiosome model of the foot presents an opportunity to perform direct angiosome-targeted endovascular interventions to maximise both wound healing and limb salvage. A systematic review was performed, with 17 studies included in the final review. Below-the-knee endovascular interventions present significant technical challenges, with technical success depending on the length of lesion being treated and the number of angiosomes that require treatment. Wound healing was significantly improved with direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty, as was limb salvage, with a significant increase in survival without major amputation. Indirect angioplasty, where the intervention is applied to collateral vessels to the angiosomes, yielded similar results to direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty. Applying the angiosome model of the foot in direct angiosome-targeted angioplasty improves outcomes for patients with recalcitrant diabetic foot ulcers in terms of primary wound healing, mean time for complete wound healing and major amputation-free survival.
Keywords : Diabetic foot ulcer, angiosome, angioplasty