IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v74y2021i5p1258-1282.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Turning Rules into Resources: Worker Enactment of Labor Standards and Why It Matters for Regulatory Federalism

Author

Listed:
  • Natasha Iskander
  • Nichola Lowe

Abstract

Labor standards are not just enforced; they are enacted, and often in ways that are different from their stated intention. This distinction creates an opening to consider the ways that frontline workers extend and repurpose enforcement practices. Drawing on qualitative research in two US cities, the authors focus on Latino immigrant construction workers to identify the strategies they use to rework formal safety mandates to advance technical knowledge, create skill-based alliances across organizational hierarchies, and protect career trajectories. These resourcing strategies were present in both locations, but workers’ ability to affect the quality of their jobs through the collective enactment of labor standards varied significantly by city and depended on the enforcement practices in play. Workers’ attention to these localized resourcing opportunities suggests possibilities for progressive innovation at the multiple levels of government driving emerging research on regulation and federalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Natasha Iskander & Nichola Lowe, 2021. "Turning Rules into Resources: Worker Enactment of Labor Standards and Why It Matters for Regulatory Federalism," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(5), pages 1258-1282, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:74:y:2021:i:5:p:1258-1282
    DOI: 10.1177/0019793921994822
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0019793921994822
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0019793921994822?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Levy & Juliane Reinecke & Stephan Manning, 2016. "The Political Dynamics of Sustainable Coffee: Contested Value Regimes and the Transformation of Sustainability," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 364-401, May.
    2. Luc Fransen & Brian Burgoon & Mark Anner, 2017. "Monitoring Workers’ Rights: The Limits of Voluntary Social Compliance Initiatives in Labor Repressive Regimes," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 8, pages 56-65, May.
    3. repec:bla:glopol:v:8:y:2017:i:s3:p:56-65 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Ruthanne Huising & Susan S. Silbey, 2011. "Governing the gap : Forging safe science through relational regulation," Post-Print hal-02311930, HAL.
    5. Roberto PIRES, 2008. "Promoting sustainable compliance: Styles of labour inspection and compliance outcomes in Brazil," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(2-3), pages 199-229, June.
    6. Nik Theodore & Abel Valenzuela & Edwin Meléndez, 2009. "Worker centers: defending labor standards for migrant workers in the informal economy," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(5), pages 422-436, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Janice Fine & Michael Piore, 2021. "Introduction to a Special Issue on the New Labor Federalism," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(5), pages 1085-1102, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tampe, Maja, 2021. "Turning rules into practices: An inside-out approach to understanding the implementation of sustainability standards," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    2. Jodi L. Short, 2021. "The politics of regulatory enforcement and compliance: Theorizing and operationalizing political influences," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 653-685, July.
    3. Ronconi, Lucas & Raphael, Steven, 2024. "Measuring Effective Labor Regulation in the Less Developed World: Recent Advances and Challenges Ahead," IZA Policy Papers 210, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Stephen Mustchin & Mathew Johnson & Marti Lopez‐Andreu, 2023. "Civil society organisations in and against the state: Advice, advocacy and activism on the margins of the labour market," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 117-131, March.
    5. David Monciardini & Guido Conaldi, 2019. "The European regulation of corporate social responsibility: The role of beneficiaries' intermediaries," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(2), pages 240-259, June.
    6. Ruthanne Huising, 2014. "The Erosion of Expert Control Through Censure Episodes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1633-1661, December.
    7. Matthew Amengual & Janice Fine, 2017. "Co‐enforcing Labor standards: the unique contributions of state and worker organizations in Argentina and the United States," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 129-142, June.
    8. Amengual, Matthew, 2010. "Complementary Labor Regulation: The Uncoordinated Combination of State and Private Regulators in the Dominican Republic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 405-414, March.
    9. Janina Grabs & Graeme Auld & Benjamin Cashore, 2021. "Private regulation, public policy, and the perils of adverse ontological selection," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1183-1208, October.
    10. Ravi KANBUR & Lucas RONCONI, 2018. "Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labour," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 157(3), pages 331-356, September.
    11. Dewey, Matías & Ronconi, Lucas, 2023. "Weberian Civil Service and Labor Enforcement," IZA Discussion Papers 16295, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Glasbergen, Pieter, 2018. "Smallholders do not Eat Certificates," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 243-252.
    13. Mark Anner, 2019. "Addressing Workers’ Rights Violations in Apparel and Agricultural Supply Chains through Binding, Cost-Sharing Accords," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 8(1-2), pages 93-114, April.
    14. Salo Coslovsky, 2013. "Enforcing Food Quality and Safety Standards in Brazil," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 649(1), pages 122-138, September.
    15. Rita Almeida & Pedro Carneiro, 2012. "Enforcement of Labor Regulation and Informality," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 64-89, July.
    16. Rodrigo Canales, 2014. "Weaving Straw into Gold: Managing Organizational Tensions Between Standardization and Flexibility in Microfinance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-28, February.
    17. Richey, Lisa Ann & Ponte, Stefano, 2021. "Brand Aid and coffee value chain development interventions: Is Starbucks working aid out of business?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    18. Christopher Wright & Daniel Nyberg, 2022. "The Roles of Celebrities in Public Disputes: Climate Change and the Great Barrier Reef," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(7), pages 1788-1816, November.
    19. Imbrogiano, Jean-Pierre & Steiner, Bodo & Mori Junior, Renzo & Sturman, Kathryn, 2023. "What enables metals ‘being’ ‘responsible’? An exploratory study on the enabling of organizational identity claims through a new sustainability standard," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Gokce Basbug & Ayn Cavicchi & Susan S. Silbey, 2023. "Rank Has Its Privileges: Explaining Why Laboratory Safety Is a Persistent Challenge," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 184(3), pages 571-587, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:74:y:2021:i:5:p:1258-1282. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.