Striving for a better yet potentially lonelier life in the era of modern technology
Channel: GRAFO UAB
Date: 2024-03-22

Seminario impartido por Regnar Kristensen (UAB) el 18 de marzo de 2024.

TÍTULO:
Striving for a better yet potentially lonelier life in the era of modern technology: transnational labor migrants in the international logistics centers of Copenhagen and Barcelona.

RESUMEN:
Logistic warehouses, which provide us with enormous amounts of global goods, have become one of the main magnets for transnational labor migrants. Despite the use of highly advanced technologies, the warehouses surrounding most modern cities still employ a vast number of unskilled laborers to pick, pack, and deliver client orders. However, their bosses are now computers that communicate with them in their own language, instructing them on where to go, what to pick, and where to deliver, among other tasks. LEAN processes have eliminated many team managers, leaving these modern workers in a sort of no-man’s- land.

During their off-duty hours, these workers also engage with social media. I am interested in understanding how they form new social relations in a foreign setting. How do they socially integrate into the society that surrounds them? Comparing labor migrants in similar working conditions in Copenhagen and Barcelona, I also explore the influence of social and cultural structures on their desires, behaviors, and abilities to form new social relationships. As I am currently in my fieldwork, I will present and discuss my preliminary results.