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Moral mobilization in the digital space: Seafarers exercising agency during the pandemic

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  • Lijun Tang

Abstract

The agency of casualized and spatially isolated workers has recently received increased research attention. This paper extends this line of research to seafarers, a traditional but also casualized and spatially isolated workforce. More specifically, it examines cases of collective action by Chinese seafarers on WeChat, a social media platform, in response to problems and grievances caused by COVID-19 control measures during the pandemic. It shows that seafarers, building on the WeChat platform and together with other maritime stakeholders, have established a socio-technological infrastructure that enables them to mobilize their peers to take action when they experience injustice at work. Their mobilization is morally charged, involving a frame of injustice that evokes moral sentiments in the participants and compels them to act to provide moral support to the distressed seafarers and to exert moral pressure on the authorities. These agency practices on WeChat thus highlight the moral dimension of collective action and reflect what can be called moral mobilization.

Suggested Citation

  • Lijun Tang, 2024. "Moral mobilization in the digital space: Seafarers exercising agency during the pandemic," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(4), pages 1045-1060, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:56:y:2024:i:4:p:1045-1060
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X231223620
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Syamantak Bhattacharya & Lijun Tang, 2013. "Fatigued for safety? Supply chain occupational health and safety initiatives in shipping," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 34(3), pages 383-399, August.
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