University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2013 Mechanics of Mobilization: The Making of a Taxi Workers Alliance Amruta Inamdar University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian Studies Commons, Sociology Commons, and the South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons Recommended Citation Inamdar, Amruta, "Mechanics of Mobilization: The Making of a Taxi Workers Alliance" (2013). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 765. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/765 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/765 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Mechanics of Mobilization: The Making of a Taxi Workers Alliance Abstract This dissertation examines the political engagement and occupational struggles of South Asian immigrant taxi workers in an American metropolis, and their participation in a taxi workers alliance. Contrary to popular understandings of South Asian immigrants as a model minority --- politically passive and economically successful professionals --- these South Asian immigrant taxi workers often struggle to make ends meet, and are actively involved in both leadership positions of their workers alliance as well as the rank and file. urF ther, their political engagements and their creative strategies to survive, maximize income, and achieve upward mobility show how poorer immigrants in non-professional occupations cannot be viewed simplistically as victims of structural exploitation. Using primary data (interviews with stakeholders in the taxicab industry) and secondary data (legislative records, Census data, newspaper archives), this study explores if, how and why immigrant workers chose to participate in this political mobilization. It recognizes three important factors that enabled the successful mobilization of this occupational group. Firstly, immigrant organizers used their social networks and ethnic ties to influence immigrant drivers' decisions to participate in alliance activities; these ties variously enabled and constrained their participation. Secondly, non-profit organizations assisted the fledgling alliance with logistics and strategizing. Thirdly, national unions have been growing more receptive to nontraditional labor organizing, and provided institutional support to taxi worker organizations across cities in the United States. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group South Asia Regional Studies First Advisor Kathleen D. Hall Keywords labor mobilization, model minority, non-professional immigrants, political participation, social networks Subject Categories Asian Studies | Sociology | South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/765 MECHANICS OF MOBILIZATION: THE MAKING OF A TAXI WORKERS ALLIANCE Amruta A. Inamdar A DISSERTATION in South Asia Regional Studies Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2013 Supervisor of Dissertation _____________________ Kathleen D. Hall Associate Professor Graduate Group Chairperson _______________________ Lisa Mitchell, Associate Professor Dissertation Committee Lisa Mitchell, Associate Professor Domenic Vitiello, Assistant Professor MECHANICS OF MOBILIZATION: THE MAKING OF A TAXI WORKERS ALLIANCE COPYRIGHT 2013 AMRUTA A. INAMDAR For Aai and Baba. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My sincere thanks to all who made this dissertation possible. To the taxi workers who graciously shared their stories with me. To my advisor, Kathy Hall, for her intellectual guidance and immense kindness. To my committee members, Lisa Mitchell and Domenic Vitiello, for their invaluable help. To the volunteers, organizers and non- profit professionals for sharing their expertise on immigration, political mobilization, and advocacy. To various programs and departments at the University of Pennsylvania, in particular South Asia Studies and Penn Institute for Urban Research, for their assistance with research, funding, and writing. To all those who made Philadelphia a second home, especially: Erin Moore, James Caron, Jeremy Spohr, Ksenia Gorbenko, Richard Salvatore, Rubab Qureshi, Shinn Ko, and Toby Harke. To Ruchi Brahmachari and Lakshmi Kutty for their friendship, wit and perspectives. And most of all to my partner, Satyajit Ambike, and my family, Amol, Anjali, and Anand Inamdar. I am grateful for your thoughtfulness, enriched by your intelligence and humor and warmth, and overwhelmed by your steadfast support and your faith in me. Thank you, all. iv ABSTRACT MECHANICS OF MOBILIZATION: THE MAKING OF A TAXI WORKERS ALLIANCE Amruta A. Inamdar Kathleen D. Hall This dissertation examines the political engagement and occupational struggles of South Asian immigrant taxi workers in an American metropolis, and their participation in a taxi workers alliance. Contrary to popular understandings of South Asian immigrants as a model minority --- politically passive and economically successful professionals --- these South Asian immigrant taxi workers often struggle to make ends meet, and are actively involved in both leadership positions of their workers alliance as well as the rank and file. Further, their political engagements and their creative strategies to survive, maximize income, and achieve upward mobility show how poorer immigrants in non- professional occupations cannot be viewed simplistically as victims of structural exploitation. Using primary data (interviews with stakeholders in the taxicab industry) and secondary data (legislative records, Census data, newspaper archives), this study explores if, how and why immigrant workers chose to participate in this political mobilization. It recognizes three important factors that enabled the successful mobilization of this occupational group. Firstly, immigrant organizers used their social networks and ethnic ties to influence immigrant drivers’ decisions to participate in alliance activities; these ties variously enabled and constrained their participation. Secondly, non-profit organizations assisted the fledgling alliance with logistics and v strategizing. Thirdly, national unions have been growing more receptive to nontraditional labor organizing, and provided institutional support to taxi worker organizations across cities in the United States. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... IV ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. V LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................... IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................. 1 Research problem and objectives ........................................................................................................ 2 History of South Asian immigrants in North America ........................................................................ 6 Literature review ................................................................................................................................ 15 Analytical framework ......................................................................................................................... 26 Research methodology ........................................................................................................................ 32 CHAPTER 2 – THE TAXICAB INDUSTRY ................................................................... 52 The history and structure of the taxicab industry .............................................................................. 53 The taxicab industry in Philadelphia .................................................................................................. 59 The current medallion system ............................................................................................................ 64 The medallion taxicab driver as an independent contractor .............................................................. 83 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 93 CHAPTER 3 – TAXI WORKERS IN PHILADELPHIA .............................................. 95 The internal structure of the taxicab industry .................................................................................... 97 South Asian immigrant drivers in the United States ........................................................................ 100 South Asian immigrant drivers in Philadelphia ............................................................................... 102 South Asian drivers’ interactions with other ethnic and racial groups ............................................. 124 vii Role of immigrant social networks ................................................................................................... 133 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 138