Labour geography and the state: Exploring labour's role in working against, with and through the state to improve labour standards

Thomas Hastings and Andrew Herod
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Thomas Hastings: Queen's Management School, 1596Queen's University Belfast, UK
Andrew Herod: Department of Geography, University of Georgia, Athens, USA

Environment and Planning A, 2024, vol. 56, issue 1, 59-79

Abstract: State labour inspection has been relatively underresearched in economic and labour geography, despite its prospective role in tackling worker exploitation as part of national state regulatory strategies. This paper seeks to address this gap by critically examining state labour inspection as a government function capable of upholding labour standards within and across economic space. A key contribution of the paper is to make stronger connections between workers’ spatial strategies and their ability to shape how labour inspection and standards enforcement is carried out. Focusing upon the UK and Ireland, we examine different ways in which some labour-friendly groups have sought to contest but also to support state labour inspection efforts with a view to protecting workers.

Keywords: Agency; state regulation; labour inspection; labour geography; hidden work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:56:y:2024:i:1:p:59-79

DOI: 10.1177/0308518X231178816

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