IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v37y2023i6p1583-1604.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Finally, We Are Well, Stable’: Perception of Agency in the Biographies of Precarious Migrant Workers

Author

Listed:
  • Lucie Trlifajová

    (Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)

  • Lenka Formánková

    (Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)

Abstract

This article examines how experience with precarious work influences the notions of control and empowerment among female migrant workers. Instead of focusing on migrant workers as victims of a continuous chain of precarious employment, the article aims to enrich the current knowledge by focusing on the complexity of elements involved in subjective assessments of agency. Based on research of Ukrainian female migrants, we show how precarious jobs can be perceived as enabling, allowing women more control over their lives. To understand these perceptions of agency, we show how important it is to focus on the embeddedness of migrants’ reflective choices in their life trajectories. In the context of migration, this implies a shift in understanding from one in which migrants compare their experience (of labour or gender structures) between country of origin and country of destination towards a more nuanced approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucie Trlifajová & Lenka Formánková, 2023. "‘Finally, We Are Well, Stable’: Perception of Agency in the Biographies of Precarious Migrant Workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(6), pages 1583-1604, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:37:y:2023:i:6:p:1583-1604
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170221092351
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170221092351
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170221092351?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agnieszka Rydzik & Sundari Anitha, 2020. "Conceptualising the Agency of Migrant Women Workers: Resilience, Reworking and Resistance," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 883-899, October.
    2. Kavita Datta & Cathy McIlwaine & Yara Evans & Joanna Herbert & Jon May & Jane Wills, 2007. "From Coping Strategies to Tactics: London's Low‐Pay Economy and Migrant Labour," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(2), pages 404-432, June.
    3. Umut Erel, 2007. "Constructing Meaningful Lives: Biographical Methods in Research on Migrant Women," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 12(4), pages 35-48, August.
    4. Eve Chiapello & Luc Boltanski, 2005. "The New Spirit of Capitalism," Post-Print hal-00678024, HAL.
    5. Eve Chiapello & Luc Boltanski, 2005. "The New Spirit of Capitalism," Post-Print hal-00680089, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vigvári, Gábor, 2022. "Transzformáció és a populizmus a visegrádi országokban [Transformation and populism in the V4 countries]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(3), pages 339-366.
    2. Jesús Manuel Palma-Ruiz & Julen Castillo-Apraiz & Raúl Gómez-Martínez, 2020. "Socially Responsible Investing as a Competitive Strategy for Trading Companies in Times of Upheaval Amid COVID-19: Evidence from Spain," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Benzecry, Claudio E., 2022. "Traduttore, traditore: The expert work of producing global (yet local) market classifications," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 23(2), pages 5-9.
    4. Louis Moreno, 2012. "Looking backward," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 345-354, June.
    5. Virginie Xhauflair & Benjamin Huybrechts & François Pichault, 2018. "How Can New Players Establish Themselves in Highly Institutionalized Labour Markets? A Belgian Case Study in the Area of Project†Based Work," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(2), pages 370-394, June.
    6. Stéphane Debenedetti & Isabelle Huault & Véronique Perret, 2015. "Resisting the power of organizations in Modern Times : May we all be Charlot? [Résister au pouvoir des organisations dans les Temps Modernes : Peut-on tous être Charlot ?]," Post-Print hal-01525807, HAL.
    7. Sikka, Prem & Lehman, Glen, 2015. "The supply-side of corruption and limits to preventing corruption within government procurement and constructing ethical subjects," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 62-70.
    8. Sikka, Prem, 2015. "The corrosive effects of neoliberalism on the UK financial crises and auditing practices: A dead-end for reforms," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 1-18.
    9. Neman Muradli & Fariz Ahmadov, 2019. "Managing contradiction and sustaining sustainability in inter organizational networks through leadership: a case study," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 6(3), pages 1255-1269, March.
    10. Philippe Batifoulier & Jean-Paul Domin & Maryse Gadreau, 2011. "Market Empowerment of the Patient: The French Experience," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(2), pages 143-162.
    11. Milena I. Kremakova, 2014. "Trust, Access and Sensitive Boundaries between ‘Public’ and ‘Private’: A Returning Insider's Experience of Research in Bulgaria," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 19(4), pages 148-161, December.
    12. Luppi, Roberto, 2023. "Die Einsamkeit des Prekariats und die Bedürfnisse des "Wir": Warum es notwendig ist, das Konzept der gemeinsamen Bedürfnisse in die Definition des Prekariats aufzunehmen," Discussion Papers 01/23, Europa-Kolleg Hamburg, Institute for European Integration.
    13. Justin O'Connor, 2015. "Intermediaries and Imaginaries in the Cultural and Creative Industries," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 374-387, March.
    14. Philippe Batifoulier & Rainer Diaz-Bone, 2022. "Perspectives on the economics and sociology of health. Contributions from the institutionalist approach of economics of convention -an introduction," CEPN Working Papers hal-03584852, HAL.
    15. Robin Holt & Yutaka Yamauchi, 2023. "Ethics, Tradition and Temporality in Craft Work: The Case of Japanese Mingei," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(4), pages 827-843, December.
    16. Münnich, Sascha, 2016. "Note from the editor: Economic sociology and capitalism," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 18(1), pages 2-5.
    17. Antonio ALOISI & Valerio DE STEFANO, 2020. "Regulation and the future of work: The employment relationship as an innovation facilitator," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 159(1), pages 47-69, March.
    18. Lutter, Mark, 2014. "Creative success and network embeddedness: Explaining critical recognition of film directors in Hollywood, 1900-2010," MPIfG Discussion Paper 14/11, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    19. Meg Holden & Andy Scerri & Azadeh Hadizadeh Esfahani, 2015. "Justifying Redevelopment ‘Failures' Within Urban ‘Success Stories': Dispute, Compromise, and a New Test of Urbanity," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 451-470, May.
    20. Rob Shields, 2008. "The Urban Question as Cargo Cult: Opportunities for a New Urban Pedagogy," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 712-718, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:37:y:2023:i:6:p:1583-1604. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.