The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers

Tamara L. Lee; Maite Tapia; Carla Lima Aranzaes; Salil R. Sapre; Spencer Shimek; Sanjay Pinto; Alí R. Bustamante

doi:10.1177/07308884241292733

The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers

Tamara L. Lee
, Maite Tapia
, Carla Lima Aranzaes
, Salil R. Sapre
, Spencer Shimek
, Sanjay Pinto
, Alí R. Bustamante

Labor and Employment Relations

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Through a socio-structural analysis, we examine contemporary forms of labor control faced by Black warehouse workers in the southern United States. Grounding our research in critical industrial relations theory and centering our analysis in the counter-narratives of Black workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we examine the impact of intensified military-style tactics in the modern workplace, contextualized by historical and regional legacies of racialized labor exploitation, policing, and bodily control.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	491-528
Number of pages	38
Journal	Work and Occupations
Volume	52
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/07308884241292733
State	Published - Nov 2025

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Sociology and Political Science
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Access to Document

10.1177/07308884241292733

Cite this

@article{3ec731a20e1f4250bb8fbfd640447d8d,

title = "The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers",

abstract = "Through a socio-structural analysis, we examine contemporary forms of labor control faced by Black warehouse workers in the southern United States. Grounding our research in critical industrial relations theory and centering our analysis in the counter-narratives of Black workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we examine the impact of intensified military-style tactics in the modern workplace, contextualized by historical and regional legacies of racialized labor exploitation, policing, and bodily control.",

author = "Lee, \{Tamara L.\} and Maite Tapia and Aranzaes, \{Carla Lima\} and Sapre, \{Salil R.\} and Spencer Shimek and Sanjay Pinto and Bustamante, \{Al{\'i} R.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024",

year = "2025",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1177/07308884241292733",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "52",

pages = "491--528",

journal = "Work and Occupations",

issn = "0730-8884",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Militarization of Employment Relations

T2 - Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers

AU - Lee, Tamara L.

AU - Tapia, Maite

AU - Aranzaes, Carla Lima

AU - Sapre, Salil R.

AU - Shimek, Spencer

AU - Pinto, Sanjay

AU - Bustamante, Alí R.

PY - 2025/11

Y1 - 2025/11

N2 - Through a socio-structural analysis, we examine contemporary forms of labor control faced by Black warehouse workers in the southern United States. Grounding our research in critical industrial relations theory and centering our analysis in the counter-narratives of Black workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we examine the impact of intensified military-style tactics in the modern workplace, contextualized by historical and regional legacies of racialized labor exploitation, policing, and bodily control.

AB - Through a socio-structural analysis, we examine contemporary forms of labor control faced by Black warehouse workers in the southern United States. Grounding our research in critical industrial relations theory and centering our analysis in the counter-narratives of Black workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we examine the impact of intensified military-style tactics in the modern workplace, contextualized by historical and regional legacies of racialized labor exploitation, policing, and bodily control.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85207522727

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85207522727#tab=citedBy

U2 - 10.1177/07308884241292733

DO - 10.1177/07308884241292733

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85207522727

SN - 0730-8884

VL - 52

SP - 491

EP - 528

JO - Work and Occupations

JF - Work and Occupations

IS - 4

ER -

The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this