“The Time of Slavery Has Ended”

Delivery Workers in Rio de Janeiro at Two Moments, Nineteenth Century and Twenty-First Century

Abstract

This article examines the delivery of goods in the 19th and 21st centuries, seeking to establish parallels and continuities, as well as pointing to certain specificities of this type of work in both periods. In answering the questions raised within this scope, the paper utilizes travelers’ accounts, vehicle licenses, press sources, and demographic data. Source material also includes interviews conducted with 100 couriers in the second half of 2021, in addition to a survey in which another 500 participated. The paper’s central argument is that various characteristics of the current app-mediated delivery work are not novelties; on the contrary, they can be thought of in connection with different moments in the city’s history, making it possible to see similarities with the activities of 19th-century porters, especially in their racial profile, autonomy, and control over their work, the occupation of public spaces during working hours, and their abilities for organization.