Footholds: Social and Economic Enfranchisement for Undocumented Mexican Immigrants in Philadelphia Through a Pre-Figurative Capitalist Alternative

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Social and Behavioral Sciences
Urban Studies and Planning
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Sisto, Reece
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English: This is a participant-observation and interview-based organizational analysis of a workers’ cooperative in South Philadelphia. Operating as a general construction company and comprised entirely of undocumented immigrants, this space sits at a particularly niche intersection of immigrant work experience and alternative economics in a quickly developing urban schema. Heavily relying on cooperative theoretical literature, this study assesses how, if at all, the cooperative practices a democratized workspace and socially/economically empowers its constituents. Marshalled against interviews with professionals and day laborers—workers’ only other option were they not in the cooperative—this study concludes that, while the workspace is not democratized in practice or on theoretical grounds, it fosters an “underlying cooperative ethos” that provides structural benefits greater than those in day laboring and operates as a “foothold” into more competitive work/opportunity in the formal economy. Español: Por observación participante y entrevistas, se ha realizado un análisis de una cooperativa de trabajadores en Filadelfia Sur. Porque se funciona como una compañía de construcción y se componen totalmente de inmigrantes mexicanos, este espacio ocupa una intersección particular de experiencia de trabajadores inmigrantes y formas económicas alternativas en un esquema urbano que desarrolla rápidamente. Esta obra se funda mucho en la teórica cooperativa y evalúa cómo, si lo hace, la cooperativa se democratiza y cómo esto fortalece los trabajadores en forma económica y/o social. Se pone en conversación con entrevistas de expertos y jornaleros—la forma de trabajo de ellos si no estuvieran en la cooperativa—este estudio concluye que, mientras el espacio no sea democratizado en la práctica o en forma teórica, alimenta una “filosofía cooperativa subyacente” que proviene beneficios estructurales más mejores que los de ser jornalero y funciona como un punto de apoyo hasta oportunidades más competitivas dentro de la economía formal.

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2018-01-01
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Suggested Citation: Sisto, Reece. "Footholds: Social and Economic Enfranchisement for Undocumented Mexican Immigrants in Philadelphia Through a Pre-Figurative Capitalist Alternative." University of Pennsylvania, Urban Studies Program. 2018.
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