Deep Integration and Production Networks: An Empirical Analysis

In this article, I develop a practice ontology approach to labor control regimes (LCRs) in Global Production Networks (GPNs). Thereby, I address the shortcomings of existing scalar approaches to LCRs, which have not yet produced a nuanced understanding of how labor control dynamics at different scales are interrelated. Building on Schatzki’s ‘site ontology’, I conceptualize LCRs in GPNs as emerging from the networked relationships between rather localized and rather unbounded constellations of exploiting and disciplining-practices ‘hanging together’ in socio-spatial ‘sites of labor control’. Drawing on empirical insights from the Bangalore export garment industry, I reveal how the highly localized labor process-site is linked to two larger sites, i.e. the sourcing process-site and the legal industrial relations process-site, through two practice-complexes: ‘production-targeting’ and ‘union-busting’. The contribution of this article is two-fold: First, the insights from the empirical analysis contribute to a more nuanced and relational understanding of the institutionalized, yet dynamic labor control architectures underpinning GPNs. Second, the practice ontology approach developed in this article contributes to the reinvigoration and further development of relational and network approaches in GPN analysis.

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An Empirical Analysis of the Obtrusiveness of and Participants' Compliance with the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR)

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759.23.4.248 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 248-257 ◽

Cited By ~ 58

Author(s):

Matthias R. Mehl ◽

Shannon E. Holleran

Keyword(s):

Empirical Analysis ◽

Sampling Method ◽

Daily Life ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Data Confidentiality ◽

Short Term ◽

Naturally Occurring ◽

Two Samples ◽

Audio Recorder ◽

Term Monitoring

Abstract. In this article, the authors provide an empirical analysis of the obtrusiveness of and participants' compliance with a relatively new psychological ambulatory assessment method, called the electronically activated recorder or EAR. The EAR is a modified portable audio-recorder that periodically records snippets of ambient sounds from participants' daily environments. In tracking moment-to-moment ambient sounds, the EAR yields an acoustic log of a person's day as it unfolds. As a naturalistic observation sampling method, it provides an observer's account of daily life and is optimized for the assessment of audible aspects of participants' naturally-occurring social behaviors and interactions. Measures of self-reported and behaviorally-assessed EAR obtrusiveness and compliance were analyzed in two samples. After an initial 2-h period of relative obtrusiveness, participants habituated to wearing the EAR and perceived it as fairly unobtrusive both in a short-term (2 days, N = 96) and a longer-term (10-11 days, N = 11) monitoring. Compliance with the method was high both during the short-term and longer-term monitoring. Somewhat reduced compliance was identified over the weekend; this effect appears to be specific to student populations. Important privacy and data confidentiality considerations around the EAR method are discussed.

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