Abstrakt
Conference proposal "Production of a fluid production: ethnography in a global factory in the Czech Republic" is a contribution to fluidity and agency dynamics in and of human-machine collectives. The proposal is based on a five-month ethnographic research focused on working conditions, manual labor and human-machine relations in a global electronic factory in the Czech Republic.
Drawing on work of Marianne de Laet and Annemarie Mol (2000) and their observation, that "an object that isn't too rigorously bounded, that doesn't impose itself but tries to serve, that is adaptable, flexible and responsive - in short, a fluid object - may well prove to be stronger than one which is firm" (ibid., 2000: 226), the proposed paper explores fluidity as a meaningful and relevant concept for understanding today's operation of a global shop floor. The factory under study needed fluid and fast adjusting production for successful functioning in an environment of market uncertainty and high competition.
Assembly line, as a heterogeneous hybrid actor, desired fluidity for its smooth and efficient operation. And workers and machines were often required to be fluid, flexible and mobile in order to maintain their job.
Fluidity, or rather an adequate level and form of fluidity, was not a firm idea or fixed practice on a shop floor, but it was being negotiated on everyday basis among heterogeneous actors both within the assembly line and outwards. Such negotiations were also crucial in enactment and (re)definition of object and human agencies and boundaries.
Achieving adequate fluid labor and production processes required hard work and effort and did not do without constant alteration, discussion, opposition and resistance. In the presented paper, ambiguous aspects of fluid work and production will be discussed, as well as how fluidity is constructed and who and under what circumstances can succeed in fluid environment of a global factory.