IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/brjirl/v64y2026i1p76-90.html

Communities of Struggle: Spatializing Power Resources in Peru's Agrarian Strike

Author

Listed:
  • Omar Manky
  • Micaela Reynoso

Abstract

This article analyses a striking case of collective action under extreme precarity: Peru's 2020 agrarian strike, which successfully repealed a law that had undermined labour rights for two decades. Drawing on an ethnographic case study in Barrio Chino (Ica) and surveys, we examine how mobilization emerged in such an adverse context for collective action. The article makes two theoretical contributions. First, it spatializes the power resources approach (PRA), demonstrating that territory actively reconfigures the power resources available to workers. Second, it adapts the concept of ‘community of struggle’ to explain how shared experiences of life and work can structure effective organizing practices without formal affiliation. The analysis reveals a key tension: The organizational fluidity that enabled rapid and effective mobilization also hindered the consolidation of permanent structures. This finding challenges linear narratives about union power construction and illuminates the contradictions inherent in organizing under extreme precarity.

Suggested Citation

  • Omar Manky & Micaela Reynoso, 2026. "Communities of Struggle: Spatializing Power Resources in Peru's Agrarian Strike," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 76-90, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:64:y:2026:i:1:p:76-90
    DOI: 10.1111/bjir.70015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.70015
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/bjir.70015?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. Marissa Brookes, 2025. "Power As a Capacity," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 78(2), pages 413-415, March.
    2. Jens Arnholtz & Bjarke Refslund, 2025. "Workers, Power and Society: Power Resource Theory in Contemporary Capitalism: A Response to Dorigatti, Nowak, Brookes, and Mrozowicki," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 78(2), pages 419-422, March.
    3. Lisa Dorigatti, 2025. "The Centrality of Labor Power for Understanding Contemporary Capitalism," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 78(2), pages 407-410, March.
    4. Schragger, Richard C., 2016. "City Power: Urban Governance in a Global Age," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190246662.
    5. Davide Però, 2020. "Indie Unions, Organizing and Labour Renewal: Learning from Precarious Migrant Workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 900-918, October.
    6. Adam Mrozowicki, 2025. "Power Resource Theory: Where, for Whom, and Why?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 78(2), pages 416-418, March.
    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. Katharine A. Robb & Michelle LaPointe & Kathryn Hemsing & Grant Anderson & James Anderson & Jorrit de Jong, 2023. "Inter‐city collaboration: Why and how cities work, learn and advocate together," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(5), pages 663-675, November.
    2. Verna Alcalde‐González & Ana Gálvez‐Mozo & Alan Valenzuela‐Bustos, 2024. "Social movement unionism in Spain's feminized precarious service sector: Criticism, cooperation and competition," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 154-173, March.
    3. Ioulia Bessa & Andy Hodder & John Kelly, 2025. "Why Do So Many People Not Vote? Correlates of Participation in Trade Union Strike Ballots," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 39(2), pages 290-310, April.
    4. Laura Schmahmann, 2025. "City Competition for E-Commerce Sales Tax Revenue: Qualitative Evidence on the Politics of Land Fiscalization in California," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 39(3), pages 167-181, August.
    5. Christof Brandtner & Luis M. A. Bettencourt & Marc G. Berman & Andrew J. Stier, 2021. "Creatures of the state? Metropolitan counties compensated for state inaction in initial U.S. response to COVID-19 pandemic," Post-Print hal-04325571, HAL.
    6. Lorenzo Frangi & Anthony C Masi & Bénédicte Poirier, 2023. "From Unwoven Societal Relationships to a Broad-Based Movement? Union Power in Societal Networks in Quebec (Canada)," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(5), pages 1377-1394, October.
    7. Jonathan Woodside & Tara Vinodrai & Markus Moos, 2021. "Bottom-up strategies, platform worker power and local action: Learning from ridehailing drivers," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 36(4), pages 325-343, June.
    8. Lori Riverstone-Newell, 2017. "The Rise of State Preemption Laws in Response to Local Policy Innovation," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 47(3), pages 403-425.
    9. Valentina Montoya-Robledo & Laura Iguavita & Segundo López, 2024. "Breathing in and out: Domestic workers high exposure to air pollution in Bogota’s public transportation system," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 42(3), pages 366-384, May.
    10. Andrea Borello, 2025. "Structural Unfairness or Disrespect and Misrecognition? Theorising the Pathway Between Feelings of Injustice and Collective Mobilisation Among Precarious Migrant Workers," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 63(3), pages 413-426, September.
    11. Anna‐Lena Nadler & Elif Naz Kayran, 2026. "Job Precarity and Attitudes Towards Labour Unions: The Mitigating Role of Immigrant Background," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 182-193, March.
    12. Alexis Roig & Jia Liang Sun-Wang & Juan-Luis Manfredi-Sánchez, 2020. "Barcelona’s science diplomacy: towards an ecosystem-driven internationalization strategy," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, December.
    13. Saerom Han, 2023. "Mobilizing within and beyond the Labor Union: A Case of Precarious Workers’ Collective Actions in North Africa," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(4), pages 674-696, August.
    14. Petr Mezihorak & Annalisa Murgia & Paolo Borghi & Mathilde Mondon-Navazo, 2023. "Representing Solo Self-Employed Workers: The Strengthening of Relations between Traditional and New Collective Actors in Industrial Relations," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1013-1031, August.
    15. Arjan Keizer & Mat Johnson & Trine P Larsen & Bjarke Refslund & Damian Grimshaw, 2024. "Unions and precarious work: How power resources shape diverse strategies and outcomes," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 30(4), pages 383-402, December.
    16. Juan J. Rivero & Luisa Sotomayor & Juliana M. Zanotto & Andrew Zitcer, 2022. "Democratic Public or Populist Rabble: Repositioning the City amidst Social Fracture," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 101-114, January.
    17. Joyce Jiang & Marek Korczynski, 2024. "The Role of Community Organisations in the Collective Mobilisation of Migrant Workers: The Importance of a ‘Community’-Oriented Perspective," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 339-357, April.
    18. Orit Shohet Radom & Gila Menahem & Assaf Meydani & Ravit Hananel, 2025. "Centralization, Local Autonomy and Municipal Activism: A New Framework for Examining Relations Between Central and Local Government," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, March.
    19. Philip Hancock & Melissa Tyler, 2024. "Live Performers’ Experiences of Precarity and Recognition during COVID-19 and Beyond," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(6), pages 1569-1590, December.
    20. Verdin, Rachel & O'Reilly, Jacqueline, 2021. "A gender agenda for the future of work in a digital age of pandemics: Jobs, skills and contracts," WSI Studies 24, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:brjirl:v:64:y:2026:i:1:p:76-90. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    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.