Tailors Turned Activists -Surviving the
Demise of the Croatian Textile Industry Cover Image

Tailors Turned Activists -Surviving the Demise of the Croatian Textile Industry
Tailors Turned Activists -Surviving the Demise of the Croatian Textile Industry

Author(s): Sonja Dragović
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: MTA Társadalomtudományi Kutatóközpont Kisebbsegkutató Intézet
Keywords: Textile workers; Privatization; Unions;Protests

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the case of closed Croatian textile factoryKamensko and the non-profit organization Kamensko Opened,formed by the factory workers when they lost their jobs in 2010, afterworking without pay for seven months. It seeks to show the ways inwhich textile workers brought novelties into the Croatian laborstruggle and provided means of subsistence while facing an array ofchallenges—bogus privatization and real-estate speculations, weak lawprotection, lack of political representation and gender-baseddiscrimination. These ways can become rather creative and turn thegroup of factory workers into exemplary, although unlikely activists,who voice the concerns of an aging population of Croatian industrialworkers while developing a small business to support themselves. Theresults were obtained through qualitative analysis semi-structuredinterviews with nine former Kamensko workers and an extensivereview of newspaper coverage of the events related to factory closure.The findings show that political struggle and work within theframework of a non-profit organization have empowered the workersand brought them the support of the wider community. Their methodcould be used by unions to a certain extent, for the sake of creatingconnections and allies within the rest of the civil society.

  • Issue Year: 2/2016
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 32-53
  • Page Count: 26
  • Language: English