Regulating from below: Direct action, precarious labour, and worker-led regulation in Spain

2026/07/21 by Martí López-Andreu

paper · doi:10.1177/00380385261453298

Abstract

This article examines how precarious workers in Spain engage in direct action to contest and reshape regulatory frameworks in contexts of limited institutional protection. Focusing on two grassroots organisations—Las Kellys and Riders x Derechos—it analyses how workers act as regulatory agents through visibility-making, protest, media engagement, and legal mobilisation. Drawing on qualitative case studies and inductive thematic analysis, the article shows how these groups expose managerial control, contest legal classifications, and deploy disruptive and hybrid organisational repertoires to influence company, sectoral, and state-level governance. The findings demonstrate that regulation is constituted from below through workers’ practices and narratives, revealing a plural and multi-scalar model of enforcement in contemporary precarious labour markets.

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