{"title":"Informal Cultures of Resistance and Worker Mobilization: The Case of Migrant Workers in the Italian Logistics Sector","authors":"Gabriella Cioce, Davide Però, Marek Korczynski","doi":"10.1177/09500170241268365","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241268365","url":null,"abstract":"In the context of the rising power of capital over labour, research on labour mobilization is important. From the research literature, we know that labour mobilizations might be initiated by trade unions or via workers’ self-organization. Yet, we know little about the cultural and social processes through which individual workers come to self-organize in the first place. To address this gap, we present ethnographic research on precarious migrant workers mobilizing with the support of an Italian independent union called SICobas. Our study highlights three processes of self-organizing: formulating shared meanings of discontent, identifying as a group using symbols of inequality and exclusion, and forming communities of struggle. Drawing on Scott’s understanding of resistance, we theorize these three processes as ‘informal cultures of resistance’. This concept contributes to emergent research on workers’ self-organization, showing the significance of the cultural and social processes that can often underpin formal labour mobilizations.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"95 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141991834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bearing Psychic Weight and Accountability: Navigating Racism and Microaggressions in Creative Work","authors":"Kim de Laat, Alanna Stuart","doi":"10.1177/09500170241254325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241254325","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines how Indigenous, Black, and people of colour (IBPOC) music industry workers navigate moments of racism and microaggressions. Through interviews with musical artists and industry workers ( N = 55), the article identifies two strategies for navigating situational acts of racism: alleviation and confrontation. Those choosing to alleviate reactions to racism express a psychic weight that stays with them, while those choosing to confront racism report that social accountability guides their actions. These strategies reveal both the persistence of and resistance to the music industry’s somatic norm – the corporeal baseline of whiteness against which non-White bodies are perceived and judged. They also result in a longer-term mental load that becomes constitutive of career advancement efforts.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"97 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141877343","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Matysiak, Wojciech Hardy, Lucas van der Velde
{"title":"Structural Labour Market Change and Gender Inequality in Earnings","authors":"Anna Matysiak, Wojciech Hardy, Lucas van der Velde","doi":"10.1177/09500170241258953","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241258953","url":null,"abstract":"Research from the US argues that women will benefit from a structural labour market change as the importance of social tasks increases and that of manual tasks declines. This article contributes to this discussion in three ways: (a) by extending the standard framework of task content of occupations in order to account for the gender perspective; (b) by developing measures of occupational task content tailored to the European context; and (c) by testing this argument in 13 European countries. Data are analysed from the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations database and the European Structure of Earnings Survey. The analysis demonstrates that relative to men the structural labour market change improves the earnings potential of women working in low- and middle-skilled occupations but not those in high-skilled occupations. Women are overrepresented in low-paid social tasks (e.g. care) and are paid less for analytical tasks than men.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141794926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Old Habits Die Hard? The Role of Trade Union Identity and Framing Processes in Shaping Strategy","authors":"Genevieve Coderre-LaPalme","doi":"10.1177/09500170241255039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241255039","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates whether differences in trade union identity can explain local and national variations in union strategy. To do so, it compares the divergent responses of unions to healthcare privatisation initiatives across six cases in England and France. It brings together the often disparate literatures on union identity, strategy and mobilisation and presents a new conceptual model to explicate these differences by linking a union’s identity to union strategy via two core framing processes: diagnostic framing and prognostic framing. Findings reveal that unions respond differently to healthcare privatisation initiatives, irrespective of the local and national context. Union identity influenced how they framed the threats and opportunities around them, shaping their expectations in terms of effective action. Union identity not only explains divergent responses but is also responsible for path dependencies which would make it potentially more difficult for unions to overcome structural constraints and learn from other groups.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"95 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141794952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Is Any Job Better Than No Job? Utilising Jahoda’s Latent Deprivation Theory to Reconceptualise Underemployment","authors":"Vanessa Beck, Tracey Warren, Clare Lyonette","doi":"10.1177/09500170241254794","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241254794","url":null,"abstract":"Underemployment is a widely discussed but complex concept. This article progresses discussions and provides a new sociological conceptualisation. It builds on a classic theory of unemployment, Jahoda et al.’s ‘latent deprivation theory’ (LDT), that identified five ‘latent functions’ provided by jobs, besides a wage: time structure, social relations, sense of purpose/achievement, personal identity and regular activity. LDT was ground-breaking in illuminating previously hidden injuries of joblessness. This article proposes that LDT can be similarly ground-breaking for reconceptualising underemployment: it demonstrates conceptually the multiple ways in which the mere existence of a job is insufficient in protecting individuals from socially and psychologically negative impacts associated with unemployment. A sociology of underemployment can help better understand complex, shifting and precarious work and expose inherent forms of suffering and injustice.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141453047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Working Time Mismatch and Employee Subjective Well-being across Institutional Contexts: A Job Quality Perspective","authors":"Wanying Ling, Senhu Wang, Zhuofei Lu","doi":"10.1177/09500170241259330","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241259330","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the well-documented negative impact of working time mismatch on employee subjective well-being, little is known about the extent to which this association can be explained by job quality and how these patterns may differ across institutional contexts. Utilizing panel data from the UK and cross-country data from Europe, the decomposition analyses show that for underemployment, more than half of the negative effects are explained by low job quality, especially poor career prospects. For overemployment, more than a third of its negative effect is explained by low job quality, with poor prospects, social environment and work–life balance being significant contributing factors. This interplay between job quality and working time mismatch on subjective well-being varies notably across different welfare and employment regimes. These findings reveal how job quality dimensions differentially contribute to the well-being of overemployed and underemployed individuals, highlighting the distinctive role of institutional context.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141453058","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Integrating Collective Voice within Job Demands–Resources Theory","authors":"Josef Ringqvist","doi":"10.1177/09500170241254306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241254306","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing on insights from the sociology of work, this article contributes to job demands–resources (JD-R) theory by arguing that collective employee voice should be considered within the framework as an antecedent of job demands and job resources. An empirical test is offered to substantiate the theoretical argument, hypothesizing that collective voice – measured as trade union influence at the workplace level – reduces job demands and increases job resources. Based on the notion that some jobs may be inherently demanding, an additional hypothesis posits that collective voice balances demands with job resources by supplementing resources particularly where demands are high. Drawing on data from the European Social Survey covering 27 countries, results of multi-level analyses reveal that while not associated negatively with job demands, collective voice enhances job resources, particularly where demands are high. On this basis the article encourages further sociologically informed analyses of the JD-R model.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141159554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Why Do So Many People Not Vote? Correlates of Participation in Trade Union Strike Ballots","authors":"Ioulia Bessa, Andy Hodder, John Kelly","doi":"10.1177/09500170241249021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241249021","url":null,"abstract":"The Trade Union Act (2016) stipulates that in order for a strike to be lawful it must now achieve a turnout of ‘at least 50 per cent’ in addition to a majority vote for strike action in the UK. We know remarkably little about the correlates of voting and even less about the decision to vote or abstain in union strike ballots. We address this gap, drawing from a large-scale survey of Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) members administered shortly after their 2019 national pay strike ballot. Results show a disconnect between the focus of the dispute (pay) and the grievances that motivated participation in the ballot (working conditions). We find that those who do not vote in strike ballots are not neutral or undecided, but are, in many cases, opposed to strike action. Our findings also demonstrate the importance of internal union communication to participation in strike ballots.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"66 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141159583","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karin Astrid Siegmann, Petar Ivošević, Oane Visser
{"title":"Working like Machines: Technological Upgrading and Labour in the Dutch Agri-food Chain","authors":"Karin Astrid Siegmann, Petar Ivošević, Oane Visser","doi":"10.1177/09500170241244718","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170241244718","url":null,"abstract":"This article engages with the role of technological upgrading for work in agriculture, a sector commonly disregarded in debates about the future of work. Foregrounding migrant work in Dutch horticulture, it explores how technological innovation is connected to the scope and security of employment. Besides, it proposes a heuristic that connects workers’ experience to sectoral dynamics and the wider agri-food chain. Our analysis reads data from a small-scale qualitative study with different actors in the Dutch agri-food sector through the lens of the global value chain literature. Nuancing pessimistic predictions of widespread technological unemployment, we find product upgrading into high value-added products, and process upgrading, such as through climate control in greenhouses, to offer the potential for more and secure employment. However, higher work intensity and the dismantling of entitlements for rest and reproduction to ‘make people work like machines’ represent the underbelly of these dynamics.","PeriodicalId":48187,"journal":{"name":"Work Employment and Society","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140895913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}