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

Abstract

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.

What Seems to be the Problem? Ex-Prisoners’ Reentry/Resettlement in the Czech Republic

“…Second, work dormitories, in general, are not suitable housing solutions for ex-prisoners due to the living conditions there. As some scholar have pointed out (Schling, 2017, 2020; Sosna & Brunclíková, 2019), the environment in most dormitories is full of stress, alcohol and other drugs, and impulsive/aggressive behavior. Thus, for many ex-prisoners who have problems with drug abuse, there is a significant risk of relapsing; and stressful environment along with aggressive climate may induce criminal behavior.…”

The Inner Dynamics of Moral Economies: The Case of Waste Management

“…The company's leading managers did not show much interest in the workers, who were considered merely disposable tools of profit-a common feature of the companies in the region. 56 as Peter, one of the workers, described it, "Look how these masters (páni) cheat. and they're gonna tell us something?…”