Paper short abstract:

Based on fieldwork in Istanbul’s recyclable waste import sector, this presentation examines workplace alienation among an ethnically diverse labour force. It argues that alienation can arise when workers judge profits to benefit members of ethnic or political 'others.'

Paper long abstract:

In this talk, I analyse inter-ethnic tensions among workers in a recycling depot in Istanbul that imported and processed plastic waste from the United Kingdom. Owned by a Kurdish businessman, the depot had a diverse workforce that included irregular migrant labourers from Syria, qualified Turkish workers hired from the formal labour market, and ethnically Kurdish piece-rate workers who were also relatives of the owner. I focus on instances of severe workplace frustration among the Turkish employees, who were convinced that the owner was pocketing their wages and redistributing them to his relatives. However, rather than express their frustrations through a class critique—or a negative appraisal of the global trade in waste—these Turkish workers condemned their boss on the basis that he was an ethnic Kurd. I suggest that this calls for new perspectives on theories of alienation in contemporary capitalism. My intervention is to show that these experiences can emerge when workers evaluate acts of profit generation with reference to political contexts that extend well beyond the workplace. In this case, alienation occurs among pro-capitalist workers when they judge profits generated in a contentious sector as benefiting ethnic or political 'others.'