Abstract

In this article we develop the theoretical premise that platform companies are in the business of making markets from a gender perspective. We do so in relation to Kathmandu’s ride-sharing platforms which have emerged in a context of changing gender regimes. Concerns about women’s safety in public transport and recognition of women as a sizeable market-share has led one platform to build gender into its digital interface. For the other platform, gender is indirectly written into its digital design. The neat representation of gender as a bounded category at the level of the platforms’ digital interface obfuscates gender as a situated practice on and off the back of the motorbike. Analysing the placed performance of the platforms illuminates ways of doing gender necessary for (re)producing ride-sharing as a flexible and gendered good in a way that does not negatively affect women’s honour in Nepal’s conservative gender regime. We also flag potential gender based violence if actors’ main interests are different from or go beyond realising ridesharing as a gendered product.

摘要

在本文中，我们提出了一个理论前提，即平台公司从性别角度从事做市业务。我们这样做是针对加德满都的拼车平台，这些平台是在不断变化的性别制度的背景下出现的。对女性在公共交通中的安全性的担忧以及对女性在相当大的市场份额中的认可，导致一个平台将性别纳入其数字界面。对于另一个平台，性别被间接写入其数字设计中。在平台的数字界面级别上，性别作为一个有界类别的简洁表示混淆了性别作为一种在摩托车后面和后面的情境实践。分析平台的表现，阐明了在不对尼泊尔保守的性别制度中女性荣誉产生负面影响的情况下，将（重新）生产拼车作为一种灵活和性别平等的产品所必需的性别平等方式。如果演员的主要兴趣不同于或超出将拼车作为一种性别产品实现，我们还会标记潜在的基于性别的暴力。