TEMPORARY AGENCY WORKERS IN THE FRENCH CAR INDUSTRY: WORKING UNDER A NEW VARIANT OF ‘DESPOTISM’ IN THE LABOUR PROCESS Christina Purcell A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Business Department of Management Manchester Metropolitan University April 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........................................................................................................4 DECLARATION ..........................................................................................................................5 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................6 ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................................7 LISTE OF TABLES .....................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................9 Neo-liberalisation, labour market flexibility and the growth of agency work in Europe ..........14 The growth of temporary agency work in car manufacturing ...................................................15 Temporary agency work and labour process analysis ................................................................17 Thesis aims ................................................................................................................................19 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 2: TEMPORARY AGENCY WORK IN EUROPE: AN EMERGING RESEARCH AND POLICY AGENDA ....................................................................................22 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................22 The standard employment relationship: protecting the “core” .................................................23 Explaining the growth in temporary agency work ....................................................................28 The profile of agency workers in Europe: continuity amidst change ........................................35 Assessing the job quality of agency workers .............................................................................38 The triadic employment relationship .........................................................................................43 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................50 CHAPTER 3: VARIETIES OF FACTORY REGIMES .........................................................53 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................53 Theorising the labour process under advanced capitalism ........................................................54 Hegemonic despotism: constructing hegemonic practices under new conditions of capital accumulation .............................................................................................................................66 Hegemony and despotism in the triadic relationship ................................................................73 Manufacturing regimes of despotism ........................................................................................80 Towards a new variant of hegemonic despotism? .....................................................................83 CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH PARADIGM AND METHODOLOGY ......................................86 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................86 The research paradigm: ontological and epistemological perspectives .....................................87 Research strategy and design .....................................................................................................94 Reflecting on the research process ..........................................................................................110 CHAPTER 5: THE TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT SECTOR IN FRANCE FROM MARCHANDS D’HOMMES TO PRIVILEGED PARTNERS ............................................123 Introduction .............................................................................................................................123 From “marchands d’hommes” to legalisation: Temporary employment agencies in post-war France ...................................................................................................................124 The legalisation of employment agencies and the regulation of agency work .......................131 Temporary employment agencies: from pariah to partner .......................................................138 The growth of temporary agency work ...................................................................................145 Unions: from opposition to “real politik” ................................................................................157 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................167 CHAPTER 6: FACTORY REGIMES, LABOUR SEGMENTATION AND THE 2 EMERGENCE OF AGENCY LABOUR IN FRENCH CAR MANUFACTURING .........169 Introduction .............................................................................................................................169 The political economy of automobile production ...................................................................170 Varieties of factory regimes in French car plants ....................................................................176 Temporary agency work in the auto sector: “winning hearts and minds”? ............................186 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................188 CHAPTER 7: EXPERIENCES OF LIFE ON THE LINE AS AN AGENCY WORKER 191 Introduction .............................................................................................................................191 PSA Peugeot-Citroën in Aulnay-Sous-Bois ............................................................................191 Union perceptions of temporary agency work in car plants ...................................................203 The role of institutional weakness in undermining “good laws” ............................................207 Anatomy of a two-tier workforce ............................................................................................211 Agency workers as the “ideal” worker ....................................................................................221 Dual control in the triadic relationship ....................................................................................226 Disillusion, misbehaviour and resistance ................................................................................229 Barriers to collective representation and mobilisation ............................................................235 Conclusion ...............................................................................................................................241 CHAPTER 8: AGENCY LABOUR AND NEW FORMS OF HEGEMONIC DESPOTISM .............................................................................................................................243 Introduction .............................................................................................................................243 From flexibility to labour control ............................................................................................244 The place of agency work within a regime of hegemonic despotism .....................................249 From consent to resistance? Expanding the repertoire of workplace behaviour .....................252 Duality of control and the construction of hegemony within market despotism ....................258 New forms of hegemonic practices under conditions of market despotism ............................264 CHAPTER 9: HEGEMONY AND DESPOTISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY .....................269 Introduction .............................................................................................................................269 Labouring under conditions of employment insecurity ...........................................................270 The tightening of the chain in the contemporary workplace ...................................................274 Back to the future? The contours of contemporary production politics ..................................277 Conceptualising contemporary forms of hegemonic despotism ..............................................283 The contradictory nature of consent ........................................................................................294 Agency in conditions of heightened constraint ......................................................................297 Despotism at odds with democracy .........................................................................................302 Prospects for turning back the tide of despotism ....................................................................303 CHAPTER 10: