A culture of informality? Fragmented solidarities among construction workers in Nepal
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Standard
A culture of informality? Fragmented solidarities among construction workers in Nepal. / Hirslund, Dan Vesalainen.
In: Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology, Vol. 2022, No. 93, 2022.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - A culture of informality?
T2 - Fragmented solidarities among construction workers in Nepal
AU - Hirslund, Dan Vesalainen
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Despite a history of labor militancy in past decades, Nepal’s large construction sector remains unorganized and lacks social protection, prompted by high levels of informality. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among construction laborers in Kathmandu, this article argues that labor subsumption to capital in the construction industry takes place through a systemization of expertise through which access to work is negotiated. I show how this “culture of informality” shapes labor relations and creates a semblance of transparency and justice in otherwise chaotic and fiercely competitive labor communities. Drawing on concepts from political and urban anthropology to probe how informality indexes forms of power, I argue that authority and status become distributed through processes of distinction and thereby extend and deepen inequalities permeating contemporary industrial relations.
AB - Despite a history of labor militancy in past decades, Nepal’s large construction sector remains unorganized and lacks social protection, prompted by high levels of informality. Based on ethnographic fieldwork among construction laborers in Kathmandu, this article argues that labor subsumption to capital in the construction industry takes place through a systemization of expertise through which access to work is negotiated. I show how this “culture of informality” shapes labor relations and creates a semblance of transparency and justice in otherwise chaotic and fiercely competitive labor communities. Drawing on concepts from political and urban anthropology to probe how informality indexes forms of power, I argue that authority and status become distributed through processes of distinction and thereby extend and deepen inequalities permeating contemporary industrial relations.
U2 - 10.3167/fcl.2021.011103
DO - 10.3167/fcl.2021.011103
M3 - Journal article
VL - 2022
JO - Focaal
JF - Focaal
SN - 0920-1297
IS - 93
ER -
ID: 300160818