Labor Geography

During the past two decades, a new immigrants’ rights movement in the U.S. has emerged, constructing a counterpublic that challenges hegemonic immigration discourses, policies, and practices. We show how a counterpublic is constructed in practice, using as a case study the Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride (IWFR), an event in 2003 that helped further the momentum of immigrant rights activism. We examine how immigrant activists and their allies came together and worked to construct, articulate, and enact a shared political identity that we refer to as an identity-in-alliance. Space-time and emotions were crucial in the development of this identity as ‘Freedom Riders,’ as well as a sense of solidarity. We reflect on the vulnerabilities within the counterpublic and challenges it faced when inserting its discourses on immigration, race, and citizenship into the hegemonic public sphere. Taking the insights gained from these practices, we extend Nancy Fraser’s concept of the counterpublic by demonstrating the centrality of space-time and emotions to its theorization.

This review paper aims at linking in a direct way labour markets' transformations with gentrification processes, in the Greek context. Departing from a thorough review of the relevant literature, spanning from the coining of the term in the 1960s up to recent research, it seeks to delineate our conceptualization of gentrification. Gentrification is presented as a process triggered by capital switching that seeks opportunities opened by rent gaps, carried out by a multiplicity of public and private actors (from national governments, finance institutions and big realtors, to private owners/developers), which often have conflicting interests, and " consumed " by segments of the workforce that have come to the forefront due to shifting international divisions of labour. Despite the critique, the Greek context features documented and undocumented gentrification tendencies, that present many similarities and stark differences with international cases, as registered in the relevant literature.

Στο βιβλίο αυτό επιχειρείται η πρώτη στην ελληνική βιβλιογραφία εμβάθυνση στη Γεωγραφία της Εργασίας. Η Γεωγραφία της Εργασίας αποτελεί ένα, σχετικά νέο, γνωστικό πεδίο και τομέα ερευνητικού ενδιαφέροντος που μελετά την αλληλεπίδραση και τους αμοιβαίους μετασχηματισμούς μεταξύ εργατικής δράσης και χωρο-κοινωνικών συνθηκών.

This book is the first Greek textbook about how workers shape the geography of capitalism and how the geography of capitalism shapes the possibilities for workers’ political and economic action. In the Anglophonic world such a focus upon the links between workers’ activities and the geography of capitalism has been termed ‘Labor Geography’.

2003'den beri Açık Radyo'da pişen  'Hikayenin Kadın Hali programında, Haziran 2013'den beri,  'Kent ve Emek; EMEKAN Gündemi'ni konuklarımızla takip ediyoruz.
http://acikradyo.com.tr/i/rss/Hikayenin_Kadin_Hali.xml.

Program Açık Radyo'nun 50. yayın döneminde Kasım 2019'da eski/yeni bir kadro ile tekrar başlıyor:
Hikayenin Her Hali: Hayata dair cinsiyet-aşırı sohbetler (2019/2020 Yayın Dönemi, Açık Radyo)
Hazırlayan: Ayşe Gül Altınay, Kristen Biehl, Didem Gençtürk, Aslı Odman, Sema Semih, Özlem Yalçınkaya
Hayatın 'olağan akışında' normalleşen, olağan gözüken, 'eşyanın tabiatı gereği' akıp gidiverenleri, cinsiyet-aşırı sohbet masamıza koyuyoruz. Gündemi kentte, kırda, sokakta, fabrikada, evde, mahkemede, sinemada, müzikte takip ederken, gündeme gömülen hafızayı da hikayelerle kazıyabiliyoruz. Bugünü kadim zamanlarda arayabiliyoruz, başımızın çaresine tarihsiz antik hikayelerin penceresinden de bakabiliyoruz. Program misafirleriyle olağanda olağanüstüyü, düzende darmadağını, dertte dermanı, yasta gücü, birlikte farkı aşındırıp, kamplara bölünmüşlerin peşinden gidiyor. Masamız kalabalık, masamız renkli. Masa da, masaymış ha!

Based on an ethnography of Uber drivers in Nairobi, my article explores practices of contestation of the gig economy taking place both in the digital and physical space of the city. It argues that the labour struggle against the price policies and the control mechanisms of ride-hailing platforms such as Uber foregrounds the tension between a subjectification from above, in which the platforms construct the drivers as independent contractors and the shaping of subjectivities through the interaction of the drivers with the digital platforms and with one another. It also suggests that, through contestation, as the one catalysed by the call to ‘go Karura’, logging off from the app, the workers connect their struggle to a broader critique of processes of exploitation, dependency and subalternity involving the state and international capital. While contributing to the growing literature on the gig economy in low- and middle-income countries, my article brings the labour geography scholars...

This study analyzes the impacts of recent and ongoing changes of Wisconsin labor politics on labor relations and social activism. The study focuses on how an abandonment of collective bargaining rights in the public sector and chances of the state pursuing Right to Work legislation, are changing the political realm of struggle for organized labor. Through a qualitative analysis of how regional business and unions have strategically acted upon the changes in labor regulations, the study wants to discuss how geographical arguments matter in the transformation of social and political reality. Interviews with key stakeholders in the Wisconsin Uprising and in the reform process around Act 10, on strategies and behavior of their respective organizations, are used to map the scope of interests and distribution of power, as well as to frame a discussion of labor’s changing situation in times of globalization of production and state restructuring. The study draws on critical geographical theories on social movements, accumulation by dispossession, the rise of neoliberal governmentality and its geographical necessity discourse of “Glocalizing Competitiveness State Regimes”, (Harvey, 2003; Lemke, 2011; Brenner, 2004).

In the last few decades, important overcoming efforts from disciplinary trenches have been implemented in different learning areas, like the Geography cases, the labor studies and the health sciences. In this context, this paper aims to highlight the space dimension of the worker's health, proposing an approach of dialectical-materialist bias centered in the territory concept focused in reveal unseen traits of the domination and capitalist exploration and its corollary, the precariousness and the work degradation in different places and labor activity sectors. In methodological terms, we appealed, fundamentally, to the bibliography review in different sources and areas of knowledge, featuring Geography and the worker's health. Resumo Nas últimas décadas, importantes esforços de superação das trincheiras disciplinares têm sido implementados, em diferentes áreas do conhecimento, como são os casos da Geografia, dos estudos do trabalho e das ciências da saúde. Nesse contexto, o presente artigo objetiva ressaltar a dimensão espacial da saúde do trabalhador, propondo uma abordagem de viés dialético-materialista centrada no conceito de território e focada para revelar traços invisibilizados da dominação e da exploração capitalista e de seu corolário, a precarização e a degradação do trabalho, em distintos lugares e setores da atividade laboral. Em termos metodológicos, recorremos, fundamentalmente, à revisão bibliográfica em diferentes fontes e áreas do conhecimento, com destaque para a Geografia e a Saúde do Trabalhador. Palavras-chave: Território, trabalho, saúde do trabalhador, agravos do trabalho. Resumen En las últimas décadas importantes esfuerzos de superación de las trincheras disciplinarias han sido implementados en diferentes áreas de conocimiento, este es el caso de la Geografía, de los estudios del trabajo y de las ciencias de la salud. En este contexto, el presente artículo tiene por objetivo resaltar la dimensión espacial de la salud del trabajador, proponiendo un abordaje materialista-dialéctico centrado en el concepto de territorio, enfocado para dar importancia a los trazos invisibles de la dominación y la explotación capitalista y su corolario, la precarización y la degradación del trabajo en diferentes lugares y sectores de

1. Introduzione Il «farsi» della geografia, la continua trasformazione di spazio in territorio-con il portato di creazione di senso che questo comporta-ha nel lavoro un elemento centrale. Poiché il processo di territorializzazione può essere considerato come «l'insieme degli atti modificativi (materiali, simbolici, organizzativi) esercitati dalle società umane sulla superficie terrestre» (Turco, 2016, p. 9), è evi-dente come, in questo stesso processo, il lavoro abbia un ruolo assai importante. È anche per mez-zo del lavoro, infatti, che il territorio assume senza posa forma e senso in rapporto dialogico con gli altri fattori della produzione. Tuttavia la capacità del lavoro (e dei lavoratori) di agire consapevolmente in questo processo non è sempre stata evidenziata allo stesso modo nella ricerca geografica. Pur nella consapevolezza che occorrerà necessariamente fare ricorso all'astrazione, l'intenzione che anima questo testo non è di focalizzarsi unicamente sul «Lavoro» in qualità di concetto astratto, quanto, piuttosto, sulla capacità o le potenzialità dei lavoratori 1 (o gruppi di lavoratori) di incidere sui processi spaziali e territoriali che disegnano il «paesaggio economico» (Herod, 1997, p. 1). Dopo una riflessione sul rapporto tra geografia e lavoro che, con l'ausilio del pensiero di Vidal de la Blache e Weber e con riferimento a quello di Polanyi, sarà utile a delineare alcuni aspetti di quadro e le due principali «polarità» concettuali del senso del lavoro in rapporto ai fatti geografici, ci si soffermerà sulla questione dell'agency del lavoro in connessione con alcune tipologie di azione locale intraprese per veicolare le rivendicazioni dei lavoratori. Questo fornirà l'occasione di riflettere, in merito a queste azioni apparentemente locali e margi-nali, sul ruolo dello spazio e della sua ri-significazione, sul rapporto tra spazio fisico e spazio simbolico e sugli effetti della comunicazione a più livelli di scala-anche mediante i nuovi media-, con possibili retroazioni sulle questioni locali ma 80 * Università per Stranieri di Siena. 1 Appare utile evidenziare in premessa due diverse questioni: la prima riguarda la definizione di lavoratore: questa è, nell'accezione comune, molto ampia e altret-tanto indefinita, al punto da indicare chiunque non sia disoccupato e a prescindere dal "lavoro" svolto. Inteso il concetto in tal modo, è evidente che nella categoria dei lavoratori rientrerebbero, appunto, tutti coloro che sono in qualche modo attivi, a prescindere dalla loro attività e dalla loro posizione sociale. Per esemplificare, nell'ambito dell'attività estrattiva rientrerebbero nella definizione tanto qualsiasi minatore (anche se in prova per una giornata), quanto il proprietario di quella stessa miniera o l'azionista della compagnia che dovesse possederla: questi ultimi svolgono infatti un lavoro di tipo manageriale. In questa analisi, invece, con lavoratori si fa riferimento a dipendenti e salariati, ma anche a coloro che Allegri e Ciccarelli (2013) definiscono «Il quinto stato», ovvero quei «lavoratori precari, autonomi e free lance» che non godono di un significativo sistema di welfare, che non hanno una tutela sindacale e che non percepiscono un reddito tale da garantire, nel medio come nel breve termine, un «reddito decente». La seconda è di uso del linguaggio. Nel testo si utilizzerà, come convenzione e nella oggettiva difficoltà d'uso di modalità alternative, il maschile plurale per i grandi insiemi che comprendono in realtà più generi (ad esempio, la parola lavoratori intende comprendere anche le lavoratrici, e così in ogni caso simile), segnalando al contempo l'adesione all'opinione di chi evidenzia l'importanza di un uso non sessista del linguaggio.

Resumen: Con el sindicato como una asociación de trabajadores/as emergida en la producción capitalista, existe escasa teoría y evidencia que analice cómo puede desarrollarse el sindicalismo en el extremo opuesto: el mundo reproductivo. Un caso de estudio histórico pero inexplorado lo constituye el proyecto de “sindicalismo territorial” desarrollado en barrios de trabajadores/as pobres hacia finales de la dictadura neoliberal en Chile (1985-89). El presente texto analiza este caso mediante entrevistas a parte de los organizadores y revisión de documentos, encontrando una geografía política e histórica aparentemente única de “poder popular”. Talleres de territorialidad, salud, mujer, derechos laborales y negociación colectiva territorial, desarrollados en espacios comunitarios barriales y en zonas históricas de poder obrero, entregan evidencia que cuestionan los límites, lógicas y tradiciones territoriales del sindicalismo. Amplias porciones de proletariado en la mancha urbana de América Latina subrayan la potencialidad de que sindicatos y organizaciones barriales crucen sus geografías para estimular la conciencia de clase trabajadora. / Abstract: With the union as a workers association emerged in the capitalist production, there is little theory and evidence studying how unionism can develop at the opposite extreme: the reproductive world. A historical but unexplored case of study is the project of “territorial unionism” developed in neighborhoods of poor workers towards the end of the neoliberal dictatorship in Chile (1985-89). The present paper analyzes this case through interviews with the organizers and review of documents, finding an apparently unique historical and political geography of “popular power”. Workshops on territoriality, health, women, labor rights and territorial collective bargaining, developed in neighborhood community spaces and in historical areas of workers’ power, provide evidence that question the limits, logics and territorial traditions of trade unionism. Large portions of proletariat in the urban sprawl of Latin America underline the potential for unions and neighborhood organizations to cross their geographies to stimulate the working class consciousness.

We explore the 2008/2009 economic crisis in Greece and its impact upon employment precarity. Specifically, we focus upon changing regional patterns of waged part-timerism during three periods: the 2005-2008 pre-crisis period; the 2009-12 deep recession; and the 2013-2016 period of mild stabilization. Our analysis reveals important geographical and sectoral variations in the growth of this type of underemployment. Specifically, we find that metropolitan regions have experienced the heaviest losses in waged employment and a significant expansion of underemployment. Moreover, they have struggled to bounce back during the period of stabilization. By way of contrast, island regions orientated towards tourism weathered the crisis much better, with many avoiding the acute flexibilisation felt in more urbanised regions. Our study observes a 'downwards convergence' of regional employment figures, one caused by Attica's disproportionate crisis. This finding contrasts accounts whic...

¿Cómo se expresan las transformaciones productivas en la organización del espacio? ¿De qué forma esta última delimita el desarrollo y éxito de las estrategias
sindicales? Para responder estas preguntas, a través de estudios de caso, basados en trabajo de archivo y etnografías en Perú, presento tres modelos de alojamiento minero —de dormitorio, de ciudad y de hotel—; detallo cómo ellos responden a formas específicas de organización de la producción, y examino cómo la movilidad espacial que cada una impone sobre la vida cotidiana de los obreros delimita diferentes patrones de acción colectiva.

We explore the 2008/2009 economic crisis in Greece and its impact upon employment precarity. Specifically, we focus upon changing regional patterns of waged part-timerism during three periods: the 2005–2008 pre-crisis period; the 2009–12 deep recession; and the 2013–2016 period of mild stabilization. Our analysis reveals important geographical and sectoral variations in the growth of this type of underemployment. In particular, we find that metropolitan regions have experienced the heaviest losses in full-time waged employment and a significant expansion of underemployment. Moreover, they have struggled to bounce back effectively during the period of stabilization. By way of contrast, island regions orientated towards tourism weathered the crisis to a much better degree, with many avoiding the acute flexibilization felt in more urbanized regions. Our study observes a “downwards convergence” of regional employment figures that is caused by Attica’s disproportionate crisis. This contr...

ABSTRACT Sleep Dealer is a feature-length, science fiction film by Alex Rivera that explores relations between Latin America and the U.S. from an unusual location: impoverished southern Mexico, sometime in the near future. We argue that the film’s multi-sited, polyvocal views on migration, labor exploitation and violent, proliferation of borders deliberately creates dissonance, wonder and ultimately hope. Rivera’s decision to locate his futuristic sci-fi film in rural, agrarian, indigenous Mexico challenges hegemonic conceptions of a future that is already known. We also suggest Rivera’s film allows viewers to imagine simultaneous co-production of futures (plural and collective) by destabilizing pervasive notions of progress and ethics. Instead Rivera proposes a relational understanding of how the world works. Encouraging viewers to identify with Memo, a cyborg-laborer and the central protagonist, Rivera asserts the power of human agency, the significance of everyday, mundane choices. Memo, Rivera insists, and others who appear to possess little control over their destiny, are capable of imagining and creating their own future. In this way, Rivera’s filmic strategy invites viewers to assess their own situation, their own personal values and reflect on the future they might choose to imagine. Rivera asks: how does one create an ethical life in a world of increasingly rapid, exploitative, material and discursive exchanges linking the powerful and the powerless, the core and periphery, the blessed and the damned? Rivera’s imaginary landscape in Sleep Dealer is a field of hopeful experimentation, negotiation and possibility.

The re-industrialization of brownfields has become an important economic redevelopment strategy in many “Rust Belt” cities, and labor-community coalitions have sought to ensure that such projects bring economic justice through good jobs to inner-city neighborhoods with high rates of unemployment. These coalitions have in many cases succeeded in establishing geographically defined job standards, such as living wage ordinances and community benefits agreements, but few studies have investigated how such “spatial fixes for labor” influence or fail to influence the relocation and investment decisions of firms. In this article, we compare and contrast two efforts to define and defend inner-city brownfields redevelopment projects as spaces for good local jobs in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We find that the influence of spatially defined job standards on relocation decisions varied with the different scales of political engagement and economic mobility involved in each case. In addition, we identify a common political factor in these decisions that previous research in labor geographies has not emphasized: the discursive trivialization of a firm’s primary product. In combination, the two cases suggest that future geographic research on economic justice and the agency of labor and its allies needs to attend both to the complex scalar dimensions of geographically defined job standards and to the roles of nonhuman products in political controversies over redevelopment.