Voices from a hidden people: Precarious lives and discrimination in Turkish sugar industry

Abstract

The aim of this study is to reveal the connections between precarious work and discrimination patterns in Turkey, drawing particular attention to the increasing use of subcontracting in the public sector. Subcontracting has been suggested as a liberal solution to labour effectiveness that is substantially concretised in further surplus value accumulation. This suggestion has been inextricably associated with disposing of labour features hereto valid such as a settled income, a guarantee of minimum standards, protection against unfair dismissal, promotion opportunities, a regular working day and working week, collective bargaining, and the provision of social services. This alteration has inevitably exposed labour to further exploitative competition on the one hand and fragmented the labour source by expanding it to further fragile categories on the other. Thus, subcontracting has immediate consequences not only for precarisation of work, but also for discriminatory practices in workplaces. The study’s results indicate that subcontracting in Turkey essentially meant a return to traditional cleavages between gender roles, local people and internal migrants, and permanent workers and precarious ones, even in the state-owned enterprises.