Il sindacalismo indie.

The book introduces the phenomenon of indie unionism to the Italian readership. This is a phenomenon which in recent years has contributed to the renewal of the British labour movement and inspired precarious workers initiatives in other parts of the world. Drawing on my longstanding research on migrant workers labour agency, the book discusses the innovative character of the indie unions phenomenon. In particular, using the power resources approach as a heuristic device, the book analytically describes how seemingly ‘powerless’ precarious workers – who are often considered ‘un-organizable’ by mainstream trade unions – can manage to build negotiating power and win a long series of disputes against powerful employers despite scarce economic resources and institutional support. Theoretically the book highlights the significance of indie unionism for social movements and labour studies as well as for the international scholarly debate on the organization of migrant and precarious workers and more generally the renewal of the labour movements. The book draws on long-standing and extensive ethnographic research with migrant workers and their labour and civic organizing practices in London.