A new article co-authored by CELSI researchers Marta Kahancová and Adam Šumichrast has been published in East European Politics and Societies (EEPS).

A new article co-authored by CELSI researchers Marta Kahancová and Adam Šumichrast has been published in East European Politics and Societies (EEPS), an international interdisciplinary journal examining critical issues related to Eastern Europe.

The article, titled “Between Control and Invisibility: Platform Workers and the Limits of Protection in Poland and Slovakia”, is authored by Dominika Polkowska (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University), Marta Kahancova (CELSI & Comenius University in Bratislava), Anna Sadowska (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University), Adam Šumichrast (CELSI), and Ewa Lecka (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University).

The study examines how national stakeholders in Poland and Slovakia respond to the EU Platform Work Directive and its ambition to improve working conditions in the digital labour economy.

Drawing on seventeen in-depth interviews with trade unions, government officials, platform representatives, and labour experts, the authors reveal deep ambivalence about the Directive’s transformative potential.

While many view the Directive as a long overdue step toward formalising rights and tackling bogus self-employment, others warn of weak enforcement, administrative constraints, and limited institutional capacity.

The findings suggest that without strong domestic labour institutions and pluralist interest representation, EU regulation risks being treated as a formal obligation rather than a catalyst for structural change.

The article calls for a more socially grounded approach to implementation, one that centres the lived realities of platform workers, particularly migrants and low income workers who remain at the margins of protection.

🔗 The article “Between Control and Invisibility: Platform Workers and the Limits of Protection in Poland and Slovakia” by Dominika Polkowska, Marta Kahancova, Anna Sadowska, Adam Šumichrast, and Ewa Lecka at: https://doi.org/10.1177/08883254261423512

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