scholarly journals Algorithmic Integration and Precarious (Dis)Obedience: On the Co-Constitution of Migration Regime and Workplace Regime in Digitalised Manufacturing and Logistics

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110314
Author(s):  
Simon Schaupp

This article analyses the interaction of the algorithmic workplace regime and the migration regime in manual work in platform logistics and manufacturing in Germany. Based on ethnographic case studies, the article reconstructs how companies integrate migrant workers by using systems of algorithmic work control. These simplify the labour process and direct workers without relying on a certain language. Algorithmic work control, however, does not realise its intended disciplining effects on its own but is dependent on external factors. A precarious residence status is such an external disciplining factor as it can create an implicit alliance of migrant workers with their employers in the hope for permanent residence. Nonetheless, the interaction of the two regimes also produced new forms of solidarity between the workers, which in some cases led to new forms of self-organisation. Thus, workplace regime and migration regime co-constitute each other.

1987 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Penn ◽  
Barry Wigzell

This paper examines the development of machine maintenance work in eight plants in Cumbria. It assesses both the arguments from the ‘flexibility’ literature concerning multi-skilling, and the ‘labour process’ debate about the deskilling of modern manual work. The eight case studies reveal complex patterns of occupational change, but overall there is little support for either the notion of multi-skilling or of deskilling. Rather, the evidence suggests a general continuity in the broad structure of occupational differentiation within this sphere of modern production.


2013 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clíodhna Murphy

AbstractWhile the rights of domestic workers are expanding in international law, including through the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention in 2011, migrant domestic workers remain particularly vulnerable to employment-related abuse and exploitation. This article explores the intersection of the employment law and migration law regimes applicable to migrant domestic workers in the United Kingdom, France and Ireland. The article suggests that the precarious immigration status of many migrant domestic workers renders employment protections, such as they exist in each jurisdiction, largely illusory in practice for this group of workers. The labour standards contained in the Domestic Workers Convention, together with the recommendations of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers on the features of an appropriate immigration regime for migrant domestic workers, are identified as providing an alternative normative model for national regulatory frameworks.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002218562110520
Author(s):  
Elaine Sio-ieng Hui ◽  
Chris King-chi Chan

Workers in the global South are becoming increasingly sensitive to their pension rights. In recent years, rural migrant workers in China have staged a series of protests to fight for pension protection. Drawing from two in-depth case studies conducted in the Pearl River Delta, we explain why workers staged pension strikes, what these protests looked like, how the employers and the government responded, and how these protests differed from previous strikes. Building upon insights from the sociology of collective action and labour process theory, we formulate a new framework for examining labour protests. In addition to seeing workers’ collective action as defensive or offensive, this framework helps us interpret these actions in relation to the spheres of production and reproduction. It classifies pension strikes in China as defensive actions located in the sphere of reproduction, which are distinct from previous strikes that were either defensive or offensive actions situated in the sphere of production. This synthesised framework assists us in theorising that workers’ protest activities, especially in the global South, are not restricted to the traditional production sphere but can also be found in the reproduction sphere.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-84
Author(s):  
Vitalii Boiko ◽  
Olha Mulska ◽  
Ihor Baranyak ◽  
Olha Levytska

Based on the multiple regression model and scenario approach to forecasting, the article estimates the Ukrainian migration aspirations towards Germany (the scale of migration, the economic activity of migrants, and their economic benefits). It is argued that major transformations in the gender-age structure of the German population may cause a demographic crisis and labour market imbalances. Our projections indicate the growing role of foreign human resources in the German economy. When modeling the scale of emigration from Ukraine, an integrated approach is applied, considering not only trends of pull-push factors but also special aspects of the German migration policy and the outflow of 8–10 million Ukrainian migrant workers. Given the poor statistical data on the scale of labour emigration needed for constructing reliable econometric models, the use of expert forecasting method remains the most optimal technique for assessing potential migration flows and migration systems.


1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan Macdonald

One of the many causes of conflict within the labour process is choice of an appropriate criterion for the selection of labour and the allocation of work tasks. While merit, as a proxy for productivity or efficiency, is appropriate according to economic rationality and the principles of business management, evidence abounds of the prevalence of seniority as the criterion most used. In an attempt to explain this apparent contradiction it is hypothesised that, in many cases, management is obliged to utilise seniority because the costs of insisting upon merit are too high. These costs, in turn, are claimed to result from three factors: the difficulties of measuring merit, workers' attachment to the seniority principle and external constraints on having merit predominate. Evidence from a variety of case studies is presented in support of the hypothesis.


Author(s):  
Verónica Castillo-Muñoz

This chapter summarizes key themes and presents some final thoughts. Looking back at how Baja California was transformed from a backwater to one of the most productive regions in northern Mexico, one could easily conclude that foreign investment was a catalyst for Baja California's dramatic economic success. But this is only part of the story. This book demonstrates that intermarriage, land reform, and migration were vital to the development of the Baja California peninsula and the Mexican borderlands. Without Asian, mestizo, and indigenous workers, it would have been impossible for the Compagnie du Boleo and the the Colorado River Land Company to become some of the most productive enterprises in Latin America. In the post NAFTA era, Baja California continues to be a strategic place for commerce and migration. The boom of maquilas (assembly plants) and agribusinesses persist in attracting migrant workers from different parts of Mexico.


2015 ◽  
pp. 425-439
Author(s):  
Kana Takamatsu

This chapter examines how the foreign aid policy should and should have supported families facing risks by using the case study of Myanmar. The chapter starts by addressing the issue of poverty, which continues to be the gravest risk in the developing countries, and how family could be the cause of poverty as well as the solution of poverty in foreign aid policy discussion. The situation of poverty and migration as a risk management tool are then examined in the second section of the chapter. Interviews with migrant workers in Thailand and Japan were conducted. Finally, there is a discussion about the developments of Myanmar and how the foreign aid and international community has inadequately responded to the democratization of Myanmar and to the needs of its people.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Aryal ◽  
PR Regmi ◽  
E V Teijlingen ◽  
D Dhungel ◽  
G Ghale ◽  
...  

Introduction: Male migrants and their sexual partners at home are at increased risk of STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) including HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus). We aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of migrants’ wives regarding HIV and STIs, and to understand risk perception of HIV due to their husbands’ sexual behaviour. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey among 182 migrants’ wives was conducted in two rural villages of Chitwan district in Nepal. The participants were selected through multistage cluster sampling method and data were collected through a questionnaire administered through a face-to-face interview. Results: Nearly all (94%) of migrants’ wives had a good knowledge of HIV, however with some misconceptions. More than two-thirds of the participating migrants’ wives were aware about the risk of HIV infection in migrant husbands and subsequent risk of transmitting themselves through sexual intercourse. Nearly half of the participants reported inability to ask their husbands about HIV and STIs even if they had their doubts. Knowledge of HIV and HIV risk associated with migration were statistically significantly higher in younger women, those who were literate and the longer the period of their husbands’ migration. Conclusion: Despite having generally a good knowledge and awareness of HIV and migration induced HIV risk; migrants’ wives could not discuss sexual health issues with their husbands, thus increasing their vulnerability to HIV and STIs.SAARC J TUBER LUNG DIS HIV/AIDS, 2016; XIII(1), page: 9-15


Author(s):  
Kana Takamatsu

This chapter uses the case study of Myanmar to examine how the foreign aid policy should have supported families facing risks. The chapter addresses the issue of poverty, which continues to be the gravest risk in the developing countries. Family could be the cause of poverty as well as the solution of poverty in foreign aid policy discussion. The situation of poverty and migration as risk management tools is examined. Interviews of migrant workers in Thailand and Japan were conducted. There is also a discussion about the developments of Myanmar and foreign aid and how the international community has inadequately responded to the democratization of Myanmar and to the needs of its people.


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