 Pyramid subcontracting and moral detachment: Down-sourcing risk and responsibility in the management of transnational labour in AsiaAmanda Wise The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 2013, vol. 24, issue 3, 433-455 Abstract: Major transformations in the organisation of labour are having a profound effect on the moral character of the labour-capital contract. Using two small case studies undertaken in Singapore as a starting point, this article reflects on the moral economies of supply chain capitalism. Detailing examples of the human impacts of down-sourcing risk through ‘flexible’ modes of transnational employment, it analyses the strategies whereby firms and governments distance themselves from these consequences. Precarious forms of employment based on pyramid subcontracting arrangements allow a disruption of the moral relation (however tenuous) that is present in traditional face-to-face employment arrangements. The article explores four strategies of moral detachment on the part of the employers, contractors and brokers in the supply chain. Keywords: Foreign workers Singapore; globalisation; human rights; Indian foreign workers low-paid workers; migrant labour; migration; neo-liberalism; precarious work; racism; supply chain; vulnerable workers (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:24:y:2013:i:3:p:433-455 Access Statistics for this article More articles in The Economic and Labour Relations Review |
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