Intersectional Faces of Labor Organization: Solidarity and Mobilizations in Logistics in Europe

The proposed action Intersectional Faces of Labor Organization: Solidarity and Mobilizations in Logistics in Europe (INFALA) aims to systematically examine the forms of solidarity, agency and labor organization of workers from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, who have become increasingly present in European labor markets and in some countries are particularly visible in logistics.

With few efforts engaging with labor on intersectional terms, and especially those from the MENA region who constitute the majority of those migrating to the EU, INFALA investigates two contrasting cases among the largest economies in Europe of Italy and Germany with three objectives in mind: 1)Develop an analytical framework to analyze intersectionality, solidarity and labor’s agency and establish the contextual foundation by mapping trajectories of MENA migration to Italy and Germany, access to labor markets, visa regimes and bilateral agreements2)Conduct a three-layered interdisciplinary case analysis of the macro-(national) of Italy and Germany, meso-(sectoral) being logistics and micro-(worker) levels3)Compare these two case studies based on analytical framework to derive larger insights regarding (trans)national solidarity and larger labor movement The MSCA Postdoc Fellowship would be a crucial step for my career development, allowing to build on my knowledge in political economy to dive into the broad logistics sector to investigate the processes of intersectional and transnational solidarity building that innovate on, or depart from, more traditional class-based labor organizing in Europe.

It would be hosted by the Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS) in Florence, which hosts the internationally-renowned ‘Centre on Social Movement Studies’ (COSMOS), under the supervision of Professor Guglielmo Meardi, who has a long-standing expertise in comparative research on industrial relations, labor migration and labor movements.