Between coping and resistance: Migrant networks and alternative forms of collectivism

Abstract

The literature on migrant workers generally indicates limited worker collectivism. Based on a comparative study of two Danish platform companies, however, this article shows how digital migrant networks are a crucial social infrastructure in precarious working environments. Using a novel conceptual framework that differentiates between collective strategies of coping and resistance, we show that collective resistance can spring from migrant networks. This foregrounds an understanding of how collectivism underpinned by strong migrant networks can wax and wane, which broadens our understanding of collectivism as a dynamic practice. The study’s findings underscore the importance of political networks as a foundation for strategies of resistance, the value of network embeddedness, and the effects of particular migrant and employment characteristics on collective strategies.

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