Production and reproduction of Wal-Mart workers: A study of spatial, social and economic relations

Abstract

This thesis examines the productive and reproductive experiences of discount department store workers. More specifically, I investigate how female and male Wal-Mart employees reproduce and resist their spatial, social and economic relations, both inside their paid workplace, and outside, in their homes and community. I examine the history of discount department stores and workers; the role of place in influencing workers' experiences; the spatial, social and economic divisions of labor in the paid workplace, home and community; and specific acts of reproduction and resistance on the part of my co-workers. I used covert participant observation and informal interviews in order to learn about Wal-Mart workers paid and unpaid work experiences. I was employed for eight months as a part-time salesclerk by Wal-Mart. This enabled me to observe the various spatial, social and economic relations at work within the store, and it allowed me to hear about my co-workers' experiences outside the paid workplace, in the course of everyday conversations.