Thiefing a Chance: Factory Work, Illicit Labor, and Neoliberal Subjectivities in Trinidad

246 Pages·2015·1.843 MB·English

by  Rebecca Prentice

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Thiefing
ChanCe
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Thiefing
ChanCe
a
factory Work, illicit Labor, and
neoliberal Subjectivities in Trinidad
Rebecca Prentice
UniveRSiTy PReSS of CoLoRado
Boulder
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© 2015 by University Press of Colorado
Published by University Press of Colorado
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Boulder, Colorado 80303
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of
Association of American University Presses
The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part,
by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State
University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado,
Utah State University, and Western State Colorado University.
∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
ISBN 978-1-60732-372-3 (paper)
ISBN 978-1-60732-375-4 (ebook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prentice, Rebecca.
  Thiefing a chance : factory work, illicit labor, and neoliberal subjectivities in Trinidad / Rebecca
Prentice.
       pages cm
  Includes bibliographical references.
  ISBN 978-1-60732-372-3 (paper) — ISBN 978-1-60732-375-4 (ebook)
1.  Clothing workers—Trinidad. 2.  Clothing factories—Trinidad. 3.  Work environment—Trinidad.
4.  Neoliberalism—Trinidad.  I. Title.
  HD8039.C6T7 2015
  331.7'616870972983—dc23
                                                            2014038119
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover image: Stitchers working in a typical Trinidadian factory. Photo by author.
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Contents
List of Figures vii
Map of Trinidad viii
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction 1
2. Being a Factory the Signature Way 25
3. Raced and Emplaced: Signature Fashions Workers 51
4. “Is We Own Factory”: Thiefing a Chance on the
Shop Floor 87
5. “Keeping Up with Style”: The Struggle for Skill 111
6. “Use a Next Hand”: Risk, Injury, and the Body at Work 143
7. “Kidnapping Go Build Back We Economy”: Criminal
Tropes in Neoliberal Capitalism 173
8. Conclusion 195
References 205
Index 225
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figures
0.1. Map of Trinidad viii
1.1. Map of Trinidad and the Caribbean region 8
2.1. Layout of the shop floor at Signature Fashions 33
2.2. At work in the stitching section 41
3.1. Houses in Laventille as seen from Picton Road 57
3.2. Bungalow-style houses in a Chaguanas suburb 60
3.3. Production sequence at Signature Fashions 61
5.1. A tailor plots a pattern onto cloth 121
5.2. A garment worker stitching up trouser flies 123
6.1. Example of a button-tacking machine at Universal Uniforms 156

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Figure 0.1. Map of Trinidad (map data from Google)
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acknowledgments
Many individuals and institutions have contributed to this work over more
than ten years of research and writing. This research has been funded, at var-
ious stages, by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research,
Universities UK, the University of Sussex, the Royal Anthropological Institute
of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Economic and Social Research Council.
I am grateful to each of these funders and could not have completed the
book without their support.
In Trinidad, I thank from the bottom of my heart Robert and Helene, the
pseudonymous owners of Signature Fashions, who gave me wide-ranging
access to their factory as an unpaid employee on the shop floor. They allowed
me to disrupt the production process as I made fumbling attempts to learn
how to sew and to interview workers during working hours. Mostly, they left
me alone to pursue my research project in their midst. Their openness and
generosity made access to my field site unexpectedly easy. Because this book
contains a great deal of critique, I have felt at times that I have repaid their
kindness with disloyalty. I hope it is not taken that way. Signature Fashions
is a different place than it was when I conducted fieldwork; the production
process and workforce have changed considerably. I hope my commentary is
taken as it is offered, with sincere gratitude and a continuing wish for dialogue.
Thanks to the workers at Signature Fashions, who made me feel their
workplace was equally my own. As my intended six months of factory eth-
nography turned into seven, then eight, then nine, I found it very hard to
ix
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