Cioce, G. orcid.org/0000-0002-1964-7862, Però, D. orcid.org/0000-0002-5620-143X and Korczynski, M. orcid.org/0000-0003-1517-6001 (2024) Informal cultures of resistance and worker mobilization: the case of migrant workers in the Italian logistics sector. Work, Employment and Society. ISSN 0950-0170
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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | cultures; ethnography; independent union; informal cultures of resistance; logistics; migrant workers; precarity; resistance; self-organization; SICobas |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Economic and Social Research Council ES/W005751/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Aug 2024 13:10 |
Last Modified: | 27 Aug 2024 13:10 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/09500170241268365 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216444 |