British Journal of Industrial Relations
Volume 45, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 404-432

From coping strategies to tactics: London's low-pay economy and migrant labour (Article)

Datta K.* , McIlwaine C. , Evans Y. , Herbert J. , May J. , Wills J.
  • a Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom
  • b Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom
  • c Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom
  • d Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom
  • e Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom
  • f Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom

Abstract

This article examines the means by which low-paid migrant workers survive in a rapidly changing and increasingly unequal labour market. In a departure from the coping strategies literature, it is argued that the difficulties migrant workers face in the London labour market reduces their ability to 'strategize'. Instead, workers adopt a range of 'tactics' that enable them to 'get by', if only just, on a day-to-day basis. The article explores these tactics with reference to the connections between different workers' experiences of the workplace, home and community, and demonstrates the role of national, ethnic and gender relations in shaping migrant workers' experiences of the London labour market and of the city more widely. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd./London School of Economics 2007.

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Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-34248592708&doi=10.1111%2fj.1467-8543.2007.00620.x&partnerID=40&md5=5f7a6047525f669562d2eec9fce8c658
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2007.00620.x
ISSN: 00071080
Cited by: 98
Original Language: English