Platform firms have been depicted as having structural and instrumental power and being able to prevail in regulatory battles. This article, in contrast, documents how they have often adapted to regulations and provide different services across locales. I show that platform firms have a specific type of power, infrastructural power, that stems from their position as mediators across a variety of actors. This power, I argue, is shaped by pre-existing regulations and the firms' strategic response, that I call “contentious compliance”: a double movement of adapting to existing regulations, while continuing to challenge them. I apply this framework to the expansion and regulation of Uber in New York City (US), Madrid (Spain), and Berlin (Germany).

中文翻译：

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优步的政治：美国和欧洲的基础设施力量

平台公司被描述为具有结构性和工具性的力量，并且能够在监管斗争中获胜。相比之下，本文记录了他们如何经常适应法规并跨地区提供不同的服务。我展示了平台公司拥有一种特定类型的权力，即基础设施权力，这源于它们作为各种参与者的调解人的地位。我认为，这种力量是由预先存在的法规和公司的战略反应形成的，我称之为“有争议的合规”：适应现有法规的双重运动，同时继续挑战它们。我将这个框架应用于优步在纽约市（美国）、马德里（西班牙）和柏林（德国）的扩张和监管。