We're Garbage People: Austerity, Possibility, and the Daily Routines of Detroit's Submerged Workers

• In Event: 095 - Section on Community and Urban Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 09. Urban Decline and Development

Abstract

Some have argued for a productive reimagining of work that no longer centers on the earning of wages or the commitment of set hours to employment, seeing this as a potentially liberating trend. Others have maintained that the flexibilization of work has contributed to mass economic insecurity and the continuing domination of neoliberal political regimes. Detroit has been held up as an example of both potential directions for labor. This paper draws on ethnographic interviews and economic survey data gathered from one heavily depopulated Detroit neighborhood to examine the daily routines and work patterns of local residents. While our interviews have included individuals who are officially employed, in this paper we focus on the descriptions offered by people who generate income without holding “jobs” in the official sense. We place our findings, both ethnographic and economic, in the context of theoretical discussions about the future of work.

Authors

• Paul Joseph Draus, University of Michigan

• Juliette Roddy, University of Michigan-Dearborn

• Anthony McDuffie, Wayne State University