Drinking and dreaming in the dormitories: Workers struggle in times of economic development

This article focuses on alcohol consumption among the migrant workers living in the dormitories in the Pilsen region, Czech Republic, to understand different notions of personhood in the changing and uncertain environment of multinational industrial companies. The authors combined garbological analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of material culture
Authors: Sosna, Daniel 1977- (Author) ; Brunclíková, Lenka (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage Publ. [2019]
In: Journal of material culture
RelBib Classification:KBK Europe (East)
ZB Sociology
Further subjects:B Consumption
B waste
B Working Class
B Alcohol
B Inequality
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:This article focuses on alcohol consumption among the migrant workers living in the dormitories in the Pilsen region, Czech Republic, to understand different notions of personhood in the changing and uncertain environment of multinational industrial companies. The authors combined garbological analysis of waste with interaction with the inhabitants of two dormitories to account for potential bias in exploring a sensitive topic such as alcohol consumption. They argue that drinking provides an arena for becoming a person embedded in social relations, acting and experiencing the world in a way that contrasts with the neoliberal emphasis on individuality and flexibility. It is a strategy that pursues stability and mutuality in uncertain times. Also, drinking helps to temporarily escape inequality and dissatisfaction with the living conditions of those who became doomed to the symbolic bottom of the social hierarchy.
ISSN:1460-3586
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of material culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/1359183518803389