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Cited by 11Labor Movements and UnionsGlobal trade, sustainability, and social impactDigital Economy and Work Transformation

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Labor organizing at chokepoints along Amazon’s supply chain: Locating geo-strategic nodes

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Potiker, Spencer Louis, Smith, David A., Ciccantell, Paul S., Sowers, Elizabeth, McKenzie, Luc·2024·Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
DOI 10.1177/0308518x241228991
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Abstract

Amazon seems to be creating a new hybrid model of capitalism combining some elements of classical Fordist vertical integration, or even the over hundred-year-old “Taylorism” of scientific management, with 21st century elements of labor “flexibility” and reliance on gig labor and subcontracting. This hybrid model offers opportunities for organized labor to gain a foothold within some of Amazon’s vertically integrated nodes as the firm lengthens its corporate commodity chain to grow increasingly close to consumers. Building on earlier work on opportunities for, and constraints on, labor in a variety of global commodity chains, our empirical cases examine how Amazon’s corporate strategies may open opportunities for labor in three illustrative cases ensconced in fulfillment centers—the Fordist vertical integration side of the model—in the Inland Empire and Otay Mesa (both in southern California) and Northern Kentucky.

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

  • 'The plan is just survival': Data Work in Kenya and the Regime of Entrapment

    Kapania, S., Yang, T., Abdelkadir, N. A., Scheuerman, M. K., Miceli, M., Taylor, A. S., & Fox, S. E. (2026) · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3772318.3791097 · Cited by 2

    “Unlike manufacturing or distribution supply chains that can be disrupted through choke-points ( e.g., sorting centers for Amazon [110]), AI supply chains are typically ephemeral because of short-term projects and high turnover.”

See all 11

Metadata

Authors
Potiker, S. L., Smith, D. A., Ciccantell, P. S., Sowers, E., & McKenzie, L.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • Western Michigan University (US)
  • California State University, Channel Islands (US)
Corresponding author
Potiker, Spencer Louis
ORCID
Venue
Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2024-02-23
Volume
56
Issue
5
Pages
1521-1538
ISSN
  • 0308-518X (ISSN-L)
  • 1472-3409
DOI
10.1177/0308518x241228991
OpenAlex
W4392132500
Cited by
11
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 1
FWCI
9.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Environment and Planning A Economy and Space (publishedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Industrial relations › Labor Movements and Unions
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Digital Economy and Work Transformation
Keywords
Amazon, union organizing, supply chain, fulfillment centers, vertical integration, Fordism, scientific management, subcontracting, labour market flexibility, commodity chains, chokepoints, Inland Empire, Northern Kentucky, e-commerce logistics

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Potiker, S. L., Smith, D. A., Ciccantell, P. S., Sowers, E., & McKenzie, L. (2024). Labor organizing at chokepoints along Amazon’s supply chain: Locating geo-strategic nodes. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x241228991