Ioan Cosmin POPAN

2026/2027

Field of Study:
Sociology

Research Program:
NEC-AMEROPA

Affiliation:
Grenoble Alpes University

Position:
Associate Fellow

Country:
Romania

Research Project

Platform Migration Infrastructures in Bucharest. Intermediaries, Debt and Control in South Asian Platform Delivery

South Asian migrants now make up a large share of Romania’s platform food-delivery workforce. In Bucharest, recruitment agencies, fleet firms and informal brokers bundle visas, platform accounts, housing and transport, generating fees, debt and dependency while extending control beyond the app. Through interviews, observation, digital ethnography and workshops, the project maps these chains and the tactics couriers use to navigate, negotiate and resist them, as Romania becomes a new destination.