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Journal of Business Ethics

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01.04.2013

Workplace Dignity in a Total Institution: Examining the Experiences of Foxconn’s Migrant Workforce

verfasst von: Kristen Lucas, Dongjing Kang, Zhou Li

Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics | Ausgabe 1/2013

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Abstract

In 2010, a cluster of suicides at the electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn Technology Group sparked worldwide outcry about working conditions at its factories in China. Within a few short months, 14 young migrant workers jumped to their deaths from buildings on the Foxconn campus, an all-encompassing compound where they had worked, eaten, and slept. Even though the language of workplace dignity was invoked in official responses from Foxconn and its business partner Apple, neither of these parties directly examined workers’ dignity in their ensuing audits. Based on our analysis of media accounts of life at Foxconn, we argue that its total institution structure imposed unique indignities on its workers that both raised questions of their self-respect and self-worth, as well as gave rise to multiple episodes of disrespectful communication. We interpret our findings in light of the larger cultural context and meanings of work in China to understand more fully the experience of dignity of Foxconn’s migrant workforce.

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Titel: Workplace Dignity in a Total Institution: Examining the Experiences of Foxconn’s Migrant Workforce
verfasst von: Kristen Lucas
Dongjing Kang
Zhou Li
Publikationsdatum: 01.04.2013
Verlag: Springer Netherlands
Erschienen in: Journal of Business Ethics / Ausgabe 1/2013
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Elektronische ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1328-0

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