Migrant Construction Workers in Times of Crisis: Worker Agency, (Im)mobility Practices and Masculine Identities among Albanians in Southern Europe

Description

This book explores how migrant construction workers in Southern Europe faced unemployment and precarious work conditions during and after the Great Recession. By drawing on rich qualitative data, it investigates the experiences of Albanian men within and beyond the workplace, and sheds light on the capacity of migrant builders to deal with economic hardships and the role of their families and masculine identities in shaping their coping practices. This book suggests a new framework for the study of coping practices among migrant (construction) workers, and adds to the study of integration processes in Southern European countries by comparing the narratives of settled migrants in Italy and Greece. This book also looks at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant builders’ lives in Southern Europe. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, this book is of interest both to students and researchers in the field of migration studies and those working in the fields of sociology, geography, anthropology, political science and economics. Preface Contents 1: Introduction References 2: Contexts, Methods, and Analytical Framework Albanian Emigration A Brief Overview on Immigration and Integration in Italy and Greece Residential Construction and Migrant Labour The Italian Construction Sector The Greek Construction Sector Research Design and Methods Data Analysis Milan and Athens Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks Migration Processes Through Different Levels of Analysis Key Theories and Concepts The Role of Migrant Networks in Getting Jobs and the Different Forms of Capitals to Access Resources Construction Workers’ Skills and Social Identities References 3: Migrant Construction Workers’ Agency in Times of Economic Recession Individual and Collective Agency of Migrant Construction Workers Increasing Mobility Power to Avoid Poor Work Conditions and Unemployment Differentiation of Social Ties to Avoid Entrapment in Ethnic Social Networks Getting Multiple Skills and Escaping from Penalised Trades and Strong Professional Identities Mobility Across Work Statuses: Neither Powerful Nor Powerless Own-Account Employed Workers Gaining Benefits Through Informal Own-Account Work Work Status Jumping as Career Advancement Work Status Jumping as Enforced Mobility Practice Collective Forms of Agency Avoiding Unpaid Overtime in a Group Collective Bellicose Power to Enforce Verbal Agreements Unions Perceived as Weak or Corrupted Organisations, or Service Providers Labour Agency Through the Lens of Reciprocal Interests Between Employers and Workers Maximising Earnings as Pieceworkers Coincidence of Interests Between Informal Workers and Employers Alignment of (Informal) Own-Account Workers with Clients Conclusions References 4: (Im)mobility and Coping Practices Among Albanian Construction Workers and Their Families Amidst the Great Recession and Its Aftermath Coping Practices and Experiences of (Im)mobility Among Migrants in Times of Crisis, Risk, and Change Physical Mobility and Immobility Internal Mobility Within Italy and Greece Onward Migration, Return to Albania, and Remigration to Italy or Greece “Why to Migrate Again?”: Spatial Immobility Beyond Views on Limited Agency and Economic Rationality Staying Put in the Host Country and Coping with the Implications of Unemployment and Under-Employment Cut of Expenses and Getting Assistance Through Institutional Channels and Social Ties Solutions to Access Accommodation and Limit Housing Expenses Finding Out Solutions for Childcare and Preschool Provisions Occupational Mobility Conclusions References 5: The Effects of the Economic Downturn on Masculine Identities and Their Relevance to Migrant Agency and Family Relations Job Loss, Male Identities and Breadwinning The Intersection of Migration, Culture and Workplace Identities The Experience of Unemployment at the Individual Level Coping Practices, Gender Norms, and Agency in the Family Sphere Men Insisting on or Reworking Their Breadwinning Role “Stay at Home to Do What?” Versus “Women Work and We Raise the Children”: Masculine Identities, Childcare and Housework Rigid, Flexible, and Hybrid Construction of Fatherhood Among Albanian Men Accessing Feminised Jobs: Rejection, Adaptability, and Agency Conclusions References 6: Conclusions A New Framework for the Study of Migrant Workers’ Coping Practices Trapped, Average, and Dynamic: Different Types of Migrants Employing Practices of Resilience, Reworking, and Resistance Migration in Southern Europe: Integration and Patterns of (Im)mobility in a Comparative Perspective Policy Implications and Recommendations Migration and Citizenship Policies Reforms in Employment Relations in the Construction Sector to Guarantee Fair Employment Conditions and Tackle Informal Economy Migrant Workers’ Requalification Trade Unions References 7: Epilogue: Migrant Construction Workers Admist COVID-19 Pandemic – A New Crisis Period? Introduction The Italian and Greek Construction Sectors Before and After the COVID-19 Pandemic Jobs and Employment Conditions in Residential Construction: The Unexpected Effects of the Pandemic in a Period of Economic Recovery Pandemic and Spatial (Im)mobility: The Effects on Daily Practices and the Outcomes on Settled Migrants’ Employment The Implications of the Pandemic on Migrant Workers’ Well-Being, Personal Identities, and Families Discussion and Conclusions References Appendices Appendix A: Employment Relations in the Greek Construction Sector Appendix B: Migrant Construction Workers – Research Participants 2015–2016 Greece Italy Appendix C: Migrant Construction Workers – Research Participants 2021–2022 Greece Italy Index