From shipyards to hospitality: working conditions and exploitation beyond the agri-food sector

Journal title MONDI MIGRANTI
Author/s Emanuela Abbatecola, Laura Scudieri, Francesca Alice Vianello
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/2
Language Italian Pages 14 P. 9-22 File size 170 KB
DOI 10.3280/MM2026-002001
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The opening contribution to this special issue takes as its central theoretical premise the understanding of severe labour exploitation as a structural feature of neoliberal capitalism and a pervasive phenomenon that cuts across labour market sectors, sustained by effective processes of normalisation. From this perspective, the concepts of labour regime and intersectional regime of precarity provide an analytical lens through which to examine how the labour process, migration policies, racialisation and gender relations intersect to produce vulnerability and susceptibility to coercion. Revisiting the articles collected here thus offers an opportunity to highlight the connections between labour, migratory and existential precarity, alongside the possibilities for individual and collective agency. Finally, attention to social reproduction and the ambivalent role of community networks, together with a valuable interdisciplinary dialogue, proves essential to understanding the mechanisms of exploitation and developing effective tools to counter and prevent it and protect workers, while opening up new avenues for research.

Keywords: severe labour exploitation; labour regime; intersectional regime of precarity; migration policies; social reproduction.

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Emanuela Abbatecola, Laura Scudieri, Francesca Alice Vianello, Dai cantieri navali all’accoglienza: regimi lavorativi e sfruttamento oltre i confini dell’agroalimentare in "MONDI MIGRANTI" 2/2026, pp 9-22, DOI: 10.3280/MM2026-002001