| 1. |
- Bahnariu, Bogdan, et al.
(författare)
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Border regimes and unfair conditions for Eastern European migrant workers in the Swedish construction sector, a labor process theory perspective
- 2022
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Ingår i: 40th International Labour Process Conference: Labour Mobility and Mobilization of Workers. ; 40, s. 24-25
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper investigates border regimes, precarity, and employment conditions from a labour process theory perspective (Braverman 1974; Thompson and Smith, 2010; Mezzadra and Neilson, 2013). Our specific focus is on the studies investigating the working conditions, labour rights, and employment forms for Eastern European migrants in the Swedish construction sector. In particular, we ask: how does the border regime shape employ ment forms and work practices, and what are the new forms of resistance and organisation in the Swedish construction sector? The migrant workers are conditioned by Swedish and EU legal aspects, depending on the country they originally come from, and its re lation to the EU. The origin of the migrant workers in the Swedish construction sector has continuously shifted since the 1950s, with Eastern Europe being especially prominent since the 1990s. Along with this shift, the focus on organized crime and on “unf air conditions” considering both a national and protectionist gaze, has been increasing in Sweden, implying that the understanding of the “unfair conditions” is something external, atypical, and non Swedish. A critical perspective on these issues calls for a “methodological de nationalism” ( 2019). At the same time, the Swedish model system of high regulation and welfare protection is highly challenged (Mackenzie et al., 2010), led to the emergence of two labour markets. The first one, dominant and highly regulated, is represented by big companies and construction unions, and is characterized by collaboration, good work relations, equity, democracy, and welfare (Haakestad and Friberg, 2000); the second one, subordinated and quite unregulated, is embodied by small companies working partially in illegal conditions, and is not characteristic for the Swedish labour market (Koch and Sederblad, 2019). As such, this paper focuses on the ways the sector has adapted to migrant labour inequalities due to labour and migration law, and the organisation and resistance forms that have been adopted. Labour process theory allows us to expand our analytical frame on the way the work is organized in the Swedish construction sector, its variations, and the ways those re late to what we can basically understand as migrant workers’ rights. It means that we cannot separate labour, class, and the features of the border regimes, as we need to include a knowledge of a “total social organization of labour” (Gluckman 1995). Meth odologically, a systematic literature review is conducted on the precarious and unequal working conditions, as well as on labour and employment forms, for Eastern European migrant workers within the Swedish construction sector. Our methodological choice of focusing on that context aimed at accounting for its specific peculiarities. Our study shows that a labour process theory perspective and a “denationalizing” analytical framework can reveal factors that impactlabour processes connected to immigrant workers. Moreover, we draw attention to the way the criminalizing gaze may be national, but the value adding labour force is indeed international. Thus, this paper contributes with knowledge production regarding the implications of border regimes for international workers’ employment forms, and precarious work practices having become part of the construction sector.
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| 2. |
- Bahnariu, Bogdan, et al.
(författare)
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Little big transitions: electric construction machines in small sites
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM). - 9780995546363 ; , s. 542-551
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Apart from grand projects (e.g., bridges) with large material and diesel-related emissions, civil engineering mostly comprises small and medium-sized projects (e.g., roundabouts, parks), where climate impact must also be mitigated. Because equipment manufacturers have been slow in providing electric machines (e.g., +/-2,5 tonnes electric excavators, wheel-loaders, etc.), which supports the transition to emission-free sites, the following enquiry appeared: which are the relevant barriers, enablers, benefits, and perspectives. This paper adopts an interdisciplinary operation management framework for a Swedish urban park project, where an electric wheelloader was used (study includes interviews, observations, energy measurements and assessment electric vs. diesel equivalent machines). Main findings show operators being modest in their expectations, electric machines performing as diesel-driven ones, and the difference in emissions being relatively significant. The considerable idle time indicated that a meta-level project portfolio planning would have huge potential - e.g., through involving machine rental companies in a sharing economy setup.
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| 3. |
- Kifokeris, Dimosthenis, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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A mapping of Swedish lean construction variants in practice: review and survey
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM). - 9780995546363 ; , s. 461-470
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Swedish Lean Construction (LC) practices focus mainly on improving technical process parameters – however, issues claimed to have been solved by LC (e.g., high production costs), are still apparent. This study reports on a survey about Swedish companies’ LC practices. A literature review on Swedish LC variants served as the background. The questionnaire survey itself was answered by around 490 construction-related companies across all Swedish regions. Survey results indicate a cross-sectoral discrepancy of LC knowledge and practices, with almost 65% of respondents claiming not to know about LC – while those doing so, are applying it in variants (e.g., integrated with location-based planning). Such an implementation can either pertain to project portfolios or be required by clients – and is more visible in large contractors and some SMEs claiming to be LC-competent. A stronger crossindustry collaboration may be needed for facilitating LC knowledge in Sweden, as well as underpinning LC practice variants befitting each company’s specific business model.
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