IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v40y2026i2p337-347.html

Climate Change Vulnerability and the Politics of Production on Swiss Construction Sites

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Schaupp

    (KU Leuven, Belgium)

  • Jan Meier

Abstract

Although it is widely acknowledged that vulnerability to climate change is distributed unevenly, the significance of differences in working conditions remains understudied. This article explores workplace climate vulnerability through analysis of the ‘politics of production’, understood as the interaction between negotiations at the level of institutional regulation and those pertaining to the labour process. The matter is considered through interviews with Jan, a Swiss construction worker. Jan’s narrative indicates that a ‘politics of production’ does not represent clashes of pre-existing interests but rather themselves generate definite subjectivities that in turn influence how climate change is negotiated. For example, norms of masculinity which prescribe the silent endurance of pain, can prevent individuals from taking action to protect themselves from the effects of climate change. The perspective of a ‘politics of production’ also aids in the understanding of a persistent maladaptation to climate change now causing further environmental and worker-related strains.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Schaupp & Jan Meier, 2026. "Climate Change Vulnerability and the Politics of Production on Swiss Construction Sites," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 40(2), pages 337-347, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:40:y:2026:i:2:p:337-347
    DOI: 10.1177/09500170251386757
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170251386757
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09500170251386757?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. Ed Day & Sam Fankhauser & Nick Kingsmill & Hélia Costa & Anna Mavrogianni, 2019. "Upholding labour productivity under climate change: an assessment of adaptation options," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 367-385, March.
    2. Francesco Bagnardi & Devi Sacchetto & Francesca Alice Vianello, 2024. "Constructing Mobilities: The Reproduction of Posted Workers’ Disposability in the Construction Sector," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(6), pages 1703-1724, December.
    3. Hedda Haakestad & Jon Horgen Friberg, 2020. "Deskilling revisited: Labour migration, neo-Taylorism and the degradation of craft work in the Norwegian construction industry1," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 41(3), pages 630-651, August.
    4. Steven J. Schuldt & Mathew R. Nicholson & Yaquarri A. Adams & Justin D. Delorit, 2021. "Weather-Related Construction Delays in a Changing Climate: A Systematic State-of-the-Art Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-25, March.
    5. Ödül Bozkurt & Mirela Xheneti & Vicky, 2022. "On the Front Line of the Circular Economy: The Entrepreneurial, Identity and Institutional Work of a Female Entrepreneur towards the Circular Transition," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 156-166, February.
    6. Natalie Galea & Abigail Powell & Fanny Salignac & Louise Chappell & Martin Loosemore, 2022. "When Following the Rules Is Bad for Wellbeing: The Effects of Gendered Rules in the Australian Construction Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 119-138, February.
    7. Caleb Goods & Bradon Ellem, 2023. "Employer associations: Climate change, power and politics," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(2), pages 481-503, May.
    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. Charlotte Hooper Overgaard & Laust Høgedahl, 2026. "Employer strategies for undermining migrants’ power resources: Evidence from the Danish construction sector," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 47(1), pages 78-96, February.
    2. Najeebullah Khan & Rajab Houmsi & Muhammad Shazril I. Ibrahim & Shamsuddin Shahid, 2026. "Impact of heat stress on outdoor labor productivity in peninsular malaysia: a spatio-temporal assessment," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 122(8), pages 1-28, April.
    3. Federica Alfani & Vasco Molini & Giacomo Pallante & Alessandro PalmaGran, 2024. "Job displacement and reallocation failure. Evidence from climate shocks in Morocco," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 51(1), pages 1-31.
    4. Julie Monroe & Steve Vincent & Ana Lopes, 2024. "‘It’s One Rule for Them and One for Us’: Occupational Classification, Gender and Worktime Domestic Labour," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1175-1196, October.
    5. Nickel, Christiane & Kilponen, Juha & Moral-Benito, Enrique & Koester, Gerrit & Ciccarelli, Matteo & Enders, Almira & Holton, Sarah & Landau, Bettina & Venditti, Fabrizio & Bobeica, Elena & Brand, Cla, 2025. "A strategic view on the economic and inflation environment in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 371, European Central Bank.
    6. Elena Paglialunga & Andrea Coveri & Antonello Zanfei, 2020. "Climate change and inequality in a global context. Exploring climate induced disparities and the reaction of economic systems," Working Papers 2003, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2020.
    7. Wan, Qilong & Miao, Xiaodong & Afshan, Sahar, 2022. "Dynamic effects of natural resource abundance, green financing, and government environmental concerns toward the sustainable environment in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Aparajita Dasgupta & Devvrat Raghav, 2024. "Rural Roads, Climate Change, and the Dynamics of Structural Transformation: Evidence from India," Working Papers 122, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    9. Deepak Kumar Behera & P. K. Viswanathan, 2026. "The interface between economic growth, carbon emissions, and health in the Asia‐Pacific region: Analysis of unobserved distributional heterogeneity," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(1), pages 595-613, February.
    10. Heather A. Rogers & Pauline Deutz & Tomas B. Ramos & Andrew E. G. Jonas, 2024. "Quality of Working Life in the Circular Economy: the Case of Self-employment in the Repair Sector," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1613-1630, June.
    11. Davidsson, Per, 2022. "McBride and Wuebker's Socially Objective Opportunities: Do they move the field forward?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    12. Roberta Di Bari & Raffaele Cucuzza & Marco Domaneschi & Stergios Aristoteles Mitoulis, 2025. "Enhancing Sustainability and Resilience Against Natural Hazard of the Built Environment—State of the Art and Development of a Novel Framework," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(6), pages 9398-9425, December.
    13. repec:cam:camjip:2107 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Conte Grand Mariana & Soria Matias, 2023. "Economic Costs Of Heat Stress Induced Reductions In Worker Productivity Due To Climate Change In A Developing Country," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4636, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    15. Mongelli, Francesco Paolo & Pointner, Wolfgang & van den End, Jan Willem, 2022. "The effects of climate change on the natural rate of interest: a critical survey," Working Paper Series 2744, European Central Bank.
    16. Lucia Wuersch & Alain Neher & Frank E. Marino & Larissa Bamberry & Rodney Pope, 2023. "Impacts of Climate Change on Work Health and Safety in Australia: A Scoping Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(21), pages 1-35, October.
    17. Qiao, Yu & Alinizzi, Majed & Pourgholamali, Mohammadhosein & Fricker, Jon D. & Labi, Samuel, 2026. "Transportation project bundling policy impacts on construction time delay: some empirical evidence," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    18. Ali Osman Uymaz & Serdar Arslan & Nuri Celiker & Sergen Gursoy, 2025. "Analysing the Impact of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) From the Perspective of Decent Work: A Comparison of the Pre‐ and Post‐COVID‐19 Periods," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(6), pages 1267-1294, August.
    19. Matthew Agarwala & Matt Burke & Patrycja Klusak & Kamiar Mohaddes & Ulrich Volz & Dimitri Zenghelis, 2021. "Climate Change and Fiscal Responsibility: Risks and Opportunities," Working Papers 008, The Productivity Institute.
    20. Karla Arlae Sánchez Guijosa & Guillermo Murray-Tortarolo & Mario Martínez Salgado, 2025. "The impact of climate variability on agricultural employment in Mexico from 1980–2017," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(2), pages 1-22, February.
    21. James E. Neumann & Paul Chinowsky & Jacob Helman & Margaret Black & Charles Fant & Kenneth Strzepek & Jeremy Martinich, 2021. "Climate effects on US infrastructure: the economics of adaptation for rail, roads, and coastal development," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 1-23, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:sae:woemps:v:40:y:2026:i:2:p:337-347. 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.