Doctoral Dissertation Research: Worker Organizations in Newly Expanding Economic Sectors

包括发展中国家政府在内的国际旅游投资在全球范围内的扩大，意味着越来越多的工人受雇于这一经济部门。有趣的是，在工人组织普遍衰落的时候，这个部门却出现了增长。然而，初步研究表明，这些新组织与过去的组织不同。他们似乎专注于为其成员提供广泛的社会项目，同时放松甚至切断与正式政党的联系。该奖项支持的研究将对这一新现象进行人种学和档案分析。这项研究的发现对于重新思考工人福利与正式工人组织之间的关系非常重要。研究结果将有助于对当代全球经济的新的理论理解，并为政策制定者和其他利益相关者提供有用的信息。这项研究将在墨西哥海岸进行，这是一个依赖旅游业的地区，在过去的二十年里，工人组织经历了巨大的增长。研究人员将对两个组织进行比较制度和档案分析，追踪产生其结构的政治、经济和社会因素；各组织与该区域其他社会行动者之间的关系；以及它们的历史发展。数据将通过多种民族志方法收集，包括在组织总部和组织赞助的社会项目中进行参与观察；对工人和领导的采访；话语分析;档案研究;还有焦点小组。本研究的结果将深入了解促进和维持工人组织的社会因素，这对依赖国际旅游业的地区的社会和政治影响，以及这些组织对工人生活的重要性。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The global expansion of investment in international tourism, including by governments in the developing world, has meant that increasing numbers of workers are employed in this sector of the economy. Interestingly, at a time when worker organizations generally are on the decline, this sector has seen an increase. However, preliminary research suggests these new organizations are unlike those of the past. They appear to be focused on broad array of social programs for their membership while simultaneously loosening, or even severing, their ties to formal political parties. The research supported by this award will undertake an ethnographic and archival analysis of this new phenomenon. Findings from this research are important for rethinking the relationship between worker wellbeing and formal worker organizations. Findings will contribute to new theoretical understandings of the contemporary global economy and provide information useful for policy makers and other stakeholders.This research will take place on the coast of Mexico, a tourism dependent region that has witnessed tremendous growth in worker organizations over the past two decades. The researcher will conduct a comparative institutional and archival analysis of two organizations, tracing political, economic, and social factors that produce their structures; relationships between the organizations and other social actors in the region; and their historical development. Data will be collected with a mix of ethnographic methods including participant observation in organizational headquarters and organization sponsored social programs; interviews with workers and leadership; discourse analysis; archival research; and focus groups. Findings from this research will provide insight into the social factors that promote and sustain worker organizations, the social and political effects this has on regions that rely on international tourism, and the significance of such organizations for workers lives.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.