James W. RINEHART : The Tyranny of Work Alienation and the Labour Process. (2nd ed.), Toronto, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1987, 226 pp., ISBN 0-7747-3067-6

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.

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Moral economy, solidarity and labour process struggle in Irish public transport

Economic and Industrial Democracy ◽

10.1177/0143831x19891235 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 0143831X1989123

Author(s):

Emma Hughes ◽

Tony Dobbins ◽

Doris Merkl-Davies

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Framework ◽

Trade Union ◽

Public Transport ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Moral Economy ◽

Process Theory ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Competitive Tendering ◽

Labour Process

This article empirically applies Knut Laaser’s integrated conceptual framework, combining Sayer’s moral economy (ME) theory with labour process theory (LPT), to examine how two rival Irish unions engaged with an uneven moral economy and consciously sought to build collective worker solidarity during a dispute over competitive tendering and marketization. Using qualitative data from a case study of BusCo in Ireland’s public transport sector, the article enriches sociological understanding of trade union solidarity, and how it is engendered, contested and experienced.

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Emotional Labour and the Autonomy of Dependent Self-Employed Workers: The Limitations of Digital Managerial Control in the Home Credit Sector

Work Employment and Society ◽

10.1177/0950017020979504 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095001702097950

Author(s):

Esme Terry ◽

Abigail Marks ◽

Arek Dakessian ◽

Dimitris Christopoulos

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Digital Control ◽

Managerial Control ◽

Emotional Labour ◽

Labour Process ◽

Heterogeneous Nature ◽

Worker Autonomy ◽

The Impact

Changes to the labour process in the home credit sector have exposed the industry’s agency workforce to increased levels of digital managerial control through the introduction of lending applications and algorithmic decision-making techniques. This article highlights the heterogeneous nature of the impact of digitalisation on the labour process and worker autonomy – specifically, in terms of workers’ engagement in unquantified emotional labour. By considering the limitations of digital control in relation to qualitative elements of the labour process, it becomes evident that emotional labour has the scope to be a source of autonomy for dependent self-employed workers when set against a backdrop of heightened digital control. This article therefore contributes to ongoing labour process debates surrounding digitalisation, quantified workers and digital managerial control.

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