Policy and informal labour in the Global South: The rise of sweatshops in Argentina in a time of economic recovery (2002-2010)

作为服装制造业的主要经营方式，“血汗工厂的回归”是服装制造业的一种主要经营方式，在我的博士论文(2010年12月提交)中，我的目标是确定时尚业在从福特主义向新自由主义的转变过程中经历的变化，以及它们对工作条件的影响。此外，我还谈到了血汗工厂对新自由主义政府形式的启示。我的PDF的主要目的是发布我的博士研究的主要成果。奖学金将为我提供时间，让我拿出论文中的某些段落，以期刊文章的形式呈现出来。文章主题包括：“时尚与‘新奴隶制’”、“工会与移民劳工的组织”、“当今意大利的非正规劳工与工业区”、“阿根廷的非正规劳工与国家”。我的项目的第二个最重要的目标是传播我的研究，主要是在学术活动中，但也向广泛的社区用户(例如非政府组织和政治家)传播。这些活动包括：(A)参加会议并组织关于“非正规劳工地理”的会议；(B)对意大利进行为期两周的访问，以便与重点小组就我在普拉托的案例研究结果举行研讨会(最好包括对媒体的采访)；(C)对社会调查研究所(IDIHCS-CONICET，阿根廷)进行为期两个月的海外机构访问。PDF项目的另一个主要目标是获得高级培训和技能。这将通过参加SED组织的相关课程，以及参加关于劳工政策和阿根廷自1970年代中期以来的资本主义重组的课程(IDIHCS-CONICET)进行注册。最后，将进行进一步的有限补充研究。我计划探索国家对非正规劳动的监管。主要问题是：(A)国家在多大程度上允许、实际上促进非正规经济循环的发展？(B)国家如何处理对非正规部门工人的保护？我将重点放在全球南部，更具体地说是在阿根廷，在布宜诺斯艾利斯的血汗工厂为我的博士学位进行案例研究。活动包括：最多10次进一步采访(采访反血汗工厂活动人士、车间老板以及国家和地区各州的官员)；与研究阿根廷国家日常做法和阿根廷劳动力市场结构的学者的非正式会议；以及确定和初步分析相关文献。与许多正在或曾经从事劳动地理研究的学者--包括加文·布里奇、凯文·沃德、尼尔·科、彼得·迪肯和诺埃尔·卡斯特里(我建议的导师)--曼彻斯特的SED是制作关于这个问题的文献的最相关的单一机构，也是进行我的PDF最准确的地方。预计我的研究最直接的受益者将是，一方面是致力于我的论文和后续研究中所述几个问题的学者，另一方面是布宜诺斯艾利斯和普拉托的血汗工厂工人。前者包括从事劳动地理、新自由主义政治经济学、新自由主义国家、服装制造和时尚、工作和就业、非正式和移民劳工组织、贩运人口以及童工和强迫劳动的人员。此外，关于全球南方国家管制/不管制非正规劳工的经验性理论的发展，对全世界的决策和社区团体的行动具有很大的潜力。

Concerned with 'the return of the sweatshop' as a main way of doing business in garment manufacturing, in my PhD thesis (submitted in December, 2010) I aim at identifying the changes that the fashion industry has experienced in the transition from Fordism to Neoliberalism, and their consequences over working conditions. In addition I address the question of what do sweatshops tell us about the neoliberal form of government. The primary aim of my PDF is to publish the main outcomes of my doctoral research. The Fellowship would provide me with time to pull out certain passages of my thesis to give them the form of journal articles. Article topics include: "Fashion and 'new slavery';" "trade unions and migrant labour organising;" "informal labour and Industrial Districts in today's Italy;" and "informal labour and the state in Argentina." The second most important objective of my project is the dissemination of my research, mostly in academic events, but also to a broad range of community users (e.g. NGOs and politicians). The activities include: (a) conference participation and organisation of sessions on 'geographies of informal labour'; (b) a two-weeks visit to Italy in order to give seminars with focus groups about the findings of my case study in Prato (ideally including interviews with media); and (c) a two-months Overseas Institutional Visit to the Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (IDIHCS-CONICET, Argentina). Another key objective in the undertaking of the PDF is to acquire advanced training and skills. This will be made through participation in relevant courses organised by SED, and through registration in a course (30hs) on labour policy and the capitalistic restructuration of Argentina since the mid 1970s (at the IDIHCS-CONICET).Finally, further limited supplementary research will be conducted. I plan to explore the state regulation of informal labour. The driving questions are: (a) To what extent does the state allow, indeed facilitate, the development of informal economic circuits?; and (b) How does the state deal with the protection of workers in the informal sector? My emphasis will be on the Global South, more specifically in Argentina, following the case study on sweatshops in Buenos Aires for my PhD. Activities involve: up to 10 further interviews (with anti-sweatshop activists, workshop owners, and officials at the national and regional states); informal meetings with academics working on state everyday practices in Argentina, and on Argentine's labour market structure; and identification and preliminary analysis of relevant literature.With a number of scholars working or having worked on labour geographies - including Gavin Bridge, Kevin Ward, Neil Coe, Peter Dicken and Noel Castree (my proposed mentor) - the SED at Manchester is the most relevant single institution producing literature on the issue, and is the most accurate place to undertake my PDF. It is expected that the most straightforward beneficiaries of my research will be, on the one hand, academics working on the several issues addressed in my thesis and follow-up research, and, on the other hand, sweatshop workers in Buenos Aires and Prato. Amongst the former are those working on labour geographies; neoliberal political economy; the neoliberal state; clothing manufacturing and fashion; work and employment; informal and migrant labour organising; trafficking in humans; and child and forced labour. In addition, the development of empirically informed theory about state regulation/non-regulation of informal labour in the Global South has a strong potential for policy-making and community groups' action worldwide.