Labor has stood as a central actor in the waves of contention against authoritarian forms of pro-market development in the Global South. In this paper, we analyze the local-level conditions that foster the mobilization of labor groups under such contexts. We study how municipal-level repressive and economic threats from authoritarian forms of pro-market development models generate labor protest. We focus on a wave of labor protest in El Salvador. In particular, we examine how subnational counts of labor mobilization events relate to variations in targeted repression and the labor flexibilization associated with transnational production. We use a unique dataset of labor mobilization, forced disappearances, and industrial ownership in El Salvador at the municipal level. More instances of disruptive labor protest emerged in those localities characterized by heightened political persecution and new workplace pressures from manufacturing operations financed by transnational capital. Based on threat models of contention, a more fine-grained approach at the subnational level helps explain how collective resistance builds into a full-blown wave of labor protest in authoritarian capitalist regimes.
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February 12 2025
The Glocal Foundations of Threat-Driven Labor Resistance to Authoritarian Capitalism
Luis Rubén González Márquez,
Luis Rubén González Márquez
University of California, Merced
Luis Rubén González Márquez is a PhD candidate in sociology at the University of California, Merced. A Salvadoran scholar, his research focuses on the global structural pressures and political processual conditions for environmental and labor mobilization in developing nations.
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Paul Almeida
Paul Almeida
University of California, Merced
Paul Almeida is Professor of Sociology and Environmental Systems at the University of California, Merced. His research focuses on civic engagement to address climate change and the forms of climate action.
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Sociology of Development 1–28.
Citation
Luis Rubén González Márquez, Paul Almeida; The Glocal Foundations of Threat-Driven Labor Resistance to Authoritarian Capitalism. Sociology of Development 2025; doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/sod.2025.2465351
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