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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Martí Lopez AndreuORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
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.
Author(s): Lopez-Andreu M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Sociology
Year: 2026
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 21/07/2026
Acceptance date: 02/05/2026
Date deposited: 10/06/2026
ISSN (print): 0038-0385
ISSN (electronic): 1469-8684
Publisher: Sage Publications
URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385261453298
DOI: 10.1177/00380385261453298
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/1dj6-m084
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