Abstract

This article explores the emergence of platform-based ride-hailing groups created by drivers in Bogotá, Colombia, who seek to increase their earnings and autonomy without government regulation. These drivers engage in evasive entrepreneurship by developing alternative forms of coordination using social technologies and smartphone applications as tools of disobedience (Thierer 2020). The success of one such group is challenging the institutions and status quo in Bogotá. This study focuses on this group and its members aim for autonomy which forms the basis for the informal technologies and new forms of agency, looking to “exit” the systems that constrain them. The study highlights how the emergence of this type of informal platform, which is referred to as a “Creole” platform, can inform the debate on the nexus of evasive entrepreneurialism and emergent collective innovation and action, providing insights into the limits of government and corporate policy design. The findings of this transdisciplinary study contribute to a deeper understanding of the intersection between technology, entrepreneurship, and collective innovation for liberal outcomes in the context of ride-hailing platforms in Bogotá and have implications for policy-makers and scholars alike.

KEYWORDS: Evasive Entrepreneurship, Creolization, Informality, Platforms, Autonomy