The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers

Tamara L. Lee; Maite Tapia; Carla Lima Aranzaes; Salil R. Sapre; Spencer Shimek; Sanjay Pinto; Alí R. Bustamante

doi:10.1177/07308884241292733

The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers

Tamara L. Lee, Maite Tapia, Carla Lima Aranzaes, Salil R. Sapre, Spencer Shimek, Sanjay Pinto, Alí R. Bustamante

School of Management and Labor Studies, Labor Studies & Empl Rels

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Through a socio-structural analysis, we examine contemporary forms of labor control faced by Black warehouse workers in the southern United States. Grounding our research in critical industrial relations theory and centering our analysis in the counter-narratives of Black workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we examine the impact of intensified military-style tactics in the modern workplace, contextualized by historical and regional legacies of racialized labor exploitation, policing, and bodily control.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Work and Occupations
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/07308884241292733
State	Accepted/In press - 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Sociology and Political Science
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Keywords

Amazon
U.S. South
critical industrial relations theory
racialized surveillance
worker control

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10.1177/07308884241292733

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title = "The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers",

abstract = "Through a socio-structural analysis, we examine contemporary forms of labor control faced by Black warehouse workers in the southern United States. Grounding our research in critical industrial relations theory and centering our analysis in the counter-narratives of Black workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we examine the impact of intensified military-style tactics in the modern workplace, contextualized by historical and regional legacies of racialized labor exploitation, policing, and bodily control.",

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AU - Sapre, Salil R.

AU - Shimek, Spencer

AU - Pinto, Sanjay

AU - Bustamante, Alí R.

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AB - Through a socio-structural analysis, we examine contemporary forms of labor control faced by Black warehouse workers in the southern United States. Grounding our research in critical industrial relations theory and centering our analysis in the counter-narratives of Black workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, we examine the impact of intensified military-style tactics in the modern workplace, contextualized by historical and regional legacies of racialized labor exploitation, policing, and bodily control.

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KW - racialized surveillance

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ER -

The Militarization of Employment Relations: Racialized Surveillance and Worker Control in Amazon Fulfillment Centers

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

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