Program Overview

About This Course

The course presents an overview and some in-depth information about the emerging phenomenon of digital platforms. The process of platformization is profoundly investing global societies from a wide range of perspectives. Platforms are transforming the world of labour and economies more broadly, are disrupting consolidated institutional arrangements, are positing new challenges and threats.

This MOOC is structured in four WEEKS, in addition to a WEEK 0 course introduction. Each WEEK has modules and lessons consisting of texts, videos, quizzes.

• WEEK 1 - What is Platform Economy? presents an overview of the main themes and topics of platform economy, discussing its genealogy, its main concepts and lexicons, its specific impact on industrialization and social reproduction. This general panorama is suggested for everyone interested in deepening the framework of platform economy.
• WEEK 2 - Platform Workers is a module mainly addressed to workers and potential workers of platform economy. Week 2 shows the skills required for this market and the actual and potential forms of social protection and rights. Moreover, some lessons are developed by workers of digital platforms presenting their experiences, and the Chart of digital rights elaborated by PLUS project is explained.
• WEEK 3 - Platform Studies is a university-oriented module. It elaborates on the relationship between platforms and capitalism, urbanism, politics, industrial revolutions, social reproduction, and citizenship. Affirmed scholars present and explain this theoretical constellation and delineates possible further research trajectories on the topics.
• WEEK 4 - Platform Challenges and Futures is mostly oriented towards managers, experts and policy makers of platform economy. It presents some experiences of alternative approaches and experiences of platforms, defines institutional possible actions to deal with platforms, presents guidelines for organizing urban arrangements and platform labour in new ways.

Requirements

The course is for a general public and contains specific insights for workers of the platform economy, university students, and managers, policy makers, and experts involved in platform economy. The course is in English and can be followed by people who want to investigate platform economy for the first time, but also by scholars and experts of the topic who want to study an original perspective of dealing with the theme.

Quizzes and scores

The course entails questions: some of them in the form of self-assessment quizzes, others, for example the quiz you will find at the end of each week, will be evaluated.

Certificate of Attendance

The Certificate of Attendance will be released to users who complete course activities. The Certificate of Attendance does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.

Subtitles

For better understanding, subtitles are available for each video and can be activated or not. If you want to revise some crucial passages you can move through the video content and click on the attached text.

Additional material

To deepen the topics discussed in the MOOC, there is the Additional Material section where you will find bibliography and other helpful documents.

Course Professors

• Stefania Animento: Stefania Animento is an urban sociologist and postdoctoral researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin. She received her PhD on the access to work and housing of young migrants in Berlin. Currently, she is working in the project Platform Labour in Urban Spaces (PLUS), which investigates how platforms and algorithmic management have impacted on the labour process, social protection and organization of workers in European cities.
• Carlotta Benvegnù: Carlotta Benvegnù is a sociologist at the Center for Sociological and Political Research in Paris - Cresppa-CSU (UMR 7217) and lecturer at the Department of Sociology of the Université d'Évry Val-d'Essonne. She is currently conducting research on Platform Work in Paris as part of the Horizon2020 project PLUS: Platform Labor in Urban Spaces.
• Filippo Bignami: Filippo Bignami holds a Ph.D. in Political and Social Sciences. He is senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences of Southern — LUCI (Labour, Urbanscape and CItizenship) research area.
• Federico Chicchi: Federico Chicchi (Associate Professor) teaches “Labour policies” and “Globalization and Capitalism” at University of Bologna. He teaches “Transformation of social bonds” at the Institute of Psychoanalysis Applied Research - IRPA (in the sites of Milan and Ancona).
• Niccolò Cuppini: Niccolò Cuppini is lecturer and researcher at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). He adopts a trans-disciplinary approach in urban studies.
• Filippo d'Aquino: Filippo moved 5 years ago to Bologna from Lecce after the high school. He studies at the Fine Arts Academy and works as food delivery rider since more than 2 years.
• Beatrice Dassori: Beatrice Dassori, Genova 1992. Graduated in law summa cum laude and the recommendation for publication at the University of Genoa with a thesis in labor law about prison work.
• Maël Dif-Pradalier: Maël Dif-Pradalier is a sociologist and full professor at the University of Applied Sciences of Western Switzerland (HES-SO). His publications and research work covers various themes (digitalisation, professional integration, vocational training and learning, social and activation policies, work and employment).
• Mattia Frapporti: Mattia Frapporti is Post-Doc Fellow in “Platform Economy and the new frontiers of urban logistics: genealogies and critics” at University of Bologna within the Horizon2020 PLUS project (Platform Labour in Urban Spaces).
• Andrea Fumagalli: Andrea Fumagalli teaches economics at University of Pavia and at Free University of Bolzano. His research activity deals with the new form of capitalistic valorization, precarity of labour and basic income hypothesis.
• Riccardo Mancuso: Mancuso worked for several multinationals such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat; he started being a food delivery rider during his studies at the University of Bologna.
• Marco Marrone: Marco Marrone holds a PhD in Sociology and Social Research from the University of Bologna. His research interest concerns informal labor, neoliberalism, the impact of technological development on labour process and the forms of unionism developed by precarious workers.
• Monica Mendini: Monica Mendini, Ph.D., is Lecturer-researcher in Marketing at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, SUPSI. Her research focuses mainly on consumer behaviour, with particular reference to consumer-brand relationships, cause-marketing, design thinking, XR technologies, food consumption and consumer well-being.
• Sandro Mezzadra: Sandro Mezzadra is Professor of Political theory at the University of Bologna (Department of Arts) and is adjunct research fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society of Western Sydney University.
• Maurilio Pirone: Maurilio Pirone is Post-Doc Fellow in "Labour discipline and new processes of organizing in the platform economy" within the Horizon2020 PLUS project (Platform Labour in Urban Spaces) at the University of Bologna.

Course Details

• Course Number: PLUS101
• Start Date: 15 September 2025
• End Date: 30 September 2026
• Language: English

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. The views and opinions expressed in this MOOC are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission/Research Executive Agency.