Migrant workers navigating the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK: Resilience, reworking and resistance

Lilian Miles, Tim Freeman, Amanda Polzin, Rishab Reitz and Richard Croucher
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Lilian Miles: School of Organisations, Economy and Society, Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, UK
Tim Freeman: Middlesex University Business School, UK
Amanda Polzin: School of Management and Marketing, Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, UK
Rishab Reitz: International Rescue Committee in Berlin, Germany
Richard Croucher: Middlesex University Business School, UK

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2024, vol. 45, issue 3, 653-673

Abstract: Drawing on qualitative data, in this article the authors apply Katz’s conceptual framework of agency as resilience, reworking and resistance practices to theorise UK migrant workers’ responses to worsened employment conditions, stress of unemployment and reduced incomes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The article draws attention to the range of micro practices these workers adopted to survive and rework existing conditions to their advantage – actions which rarely feature in academic writing, yet which recognise those who do not ‘resist’ as conscious agents who exercise power. Meanwhile, although outright oppositional responses to deteriorating employment conditions are rare, the article demonstrates the nature of workplace union representation as a central factor in resisting managerial control. The article extends Katz’s framework by considering the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind migrant workers’ responses, to understand better their dynamic choices of resilience, reworking and resistance practices in the chaotic circumstances of the pandemic.

Keywords: Agency; migrant workers; networks; pandemic; precarious employment; resilience; resistance; reworking; unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:45:y:2024:i:3:p:653-673

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X231199874

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