Despite the growing interest on the part of proponents and opponents - ranging from business,
civil society, media, to policy-makers alike - there is still limited knowledge about the working
mechanisms of the sharing economy. The thesis is dedicated to explore this understudied
phenomenon and to provide a more nuanced understanding of the micro- and macro-level
tensions that characterize the sharing economy.

This thesis consists of four research papers, each using different literature, methodology, and
data sets. The first paper investigates how the sharing economy is diffused and is ‘talked into
existence’ by the communicative acts of a number of different actors. The second paper looks
at how the reality of these narratives is actually experienced by the representatives of one type
of sharing platform, i.e., fashion libraries. The third paper further expands the understanding of
micro-level tensions experience by sharing platforms by looking at the case of mobile fashion
reselling and swapping markets. The final paper combines the perspectives of different sharing
economy stakeholders and outlines some of the micro and macro tensions arising in and
influencing the organization of these multi-sided markets