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.
Author(s): Iraklis Dimitriadis
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 285
City: Cham
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
