Confronting legacies of white dominance: Challenges to inclusive worker organizing through the storytelling of Amazon warehouse workers

Maite Tapia, Tamara L. Lee, Carla Lima Aranzaes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Furthering our calls for incorporating critical race and intersectional theory in understanding worker organizing, we focus on the working experiences of African-American Amazon warehouse workers in the US South. Based on qualitative research and in-depth interviews, we highlight their working experiences and acts of resistance. We give particular emphasis to what workers want in the face of «plantation-style management» employed in what are essentially modern company towns in the «Black Belt» of the United States. At the same time, we also explore the tensions as workers from different racial groups face fragmentation due to the unique ways they are impacted by employer practices. Throughout the paper we show that a deeper understanding of contemporary workplace phenomena emerges when we recognize and account for how identity-based systems of subordination, in this case racism, have been embedded in capital accumulation and employment relationships. Based on our findings, we highlight a critical need for workers to take an intersectional approach to organizing that can better counter identity-based conflict. Finally, more broadly, we show the implications beyond a US or Amazon-centric context.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)67-100
Number of pages34
JournalStato e Mercato
Volume44
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Sociology and Political Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Confronting legacies of white dominance: Challenges to inclusive worker organizing through the storytelling of Amazon warehouse workers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this