Political organisational silence and the ethics of care: EU migrant restaurant workers in Brexit Britain

Reeves, Laura and Bristow, Alexandra (2024) Political organisational silence and the ethics of care: EU migrant restaurant workers in Brexit Britain. Journal of Business Ethics. ISSN 0167-4544

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Abstract

In this paper, we explore the experiences of EU migrants working in UK restaurants in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. We do so through a care ethics lens, which we bring together with the integrative approach to organisational silence to consider the ethical consequences of the organisational policies of political silence adopted by the restaurant chains in our qualitative empirical study. We develop the concept of political organisational silence and probe its ethical dimensions, showing how at the organisational level it falls short of constituting a practice of caring for migrant workers in politically divisive and hostile times. We argue that organisational policies of political silence emphasise the exploitative nature of the business of (im)migration, which prioritises concern for profits over care for the needs of others. Organisations refuse caring responsibility for migrant workers, leaving care to the migrants themselves and their co-workers and managers. Whilst peer-care practices partially fill this politically silent care-vacuum, this leaves individuals to negotiate difficult tensions without institutional support at a time of increased uncertainty, complexity, hostility, violence, and vulnerability. Drawing lessons from our study and its aftermath, we call for a care manifesto to inform the business of (im)migration, which would need to include caring political responsibility towards migrant workers exercised through caring political organisational voice as well as silence.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: political organisational silence, care ethics, migrants, silencing, Brexit, political organisational voice, caring political responsibility
Subjects: J Political Science > JC Political theory
Divisions: Faculty of Arts, Business & Applied Social Science > School of Technology, Business & Arts
Depositing User: David Upson-Dale
Date Deposited: 29 Jul 2024 08:55
Last Modified: 29 Jul 2024 08:55
URI: https://oars.uos.ac.uk/id/eprint/3897

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