Welcome to the 33rd issue of The Funambulist, the first of our six 2021 issues!

Spaces of Labor is an examination of the way the capitalist exploitation of racialized and gendered workers uses space as a means to enforce itself and, in turn, how these same workers appropriate this space in their forms of resistance. Some of the issue’s contributions come from laborers themselves. The Ibis Paris Batignolles Hotel workers tell us about their daily labor, as well as the strike they have undertaken and sustained for the last 17 months. Gemma Justo and Ghiwa Sayegh describe the life of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon under the regime of Kafala. Red Schulte talks about the sex work economies of space. Osama Tanous accounts for being a Palestinian physician in an Israeli hospital in Haifa. The three other contributors are working closely on issues of labor. Prii Sen dedicates her entire research to garment female workers in Dhaka and their revolts. Alex Rivera made a film (Sleep Dealer, 2008) anticipating the remote labor maquiladoras of the future in Northern Mexico. As for Fathima Cader, she is a labor lawyer and writes about the need to abolish prison staff unions in an abolitionist agenda.

As usual, our News from the Fronts section that opens each issue and complements the main dossier, includes articles reflecting on ongoing struggles. In this issue, Sada Malumfashi describes the #EndSARS uprising in/from Nigeria, Elis Mendoza reflects on the political identity of Afro-Mexicans, Ronny Kareni provides an introduction to West Papua’s decolonization agenda, and Dawud Bumaye presents the Comorian fight against French colonialism in Mayotte.

Editor-in-Chief: Léopold Lambert
Head of Strategic Outreach: Margarida Nzuzi Waco
Editorial Assistant: Caroline Honorien
Intern: Amel Hadj Hassen
Contributing Copy Editor: Carol Que
Contributing Translator: Chanelle Adams

 

INDEX ///

COVER | SLEEP DEALER
Alex Rivera

— NEWS FROM THE FRONTS ///

2 | FOOTNOTE: THE #ENDSARS UPRISING IN NIGERIA
Sada Malumfashi

5 | AFRO-MEXICANS: A PERENNIAL STRUGGLE FOR RECOGNITION
Elis Mendoza

8 | INTRODUCTION TO THE WEST PAPUA’S DECOLONIZATION AGENDA
Ronny Kareni

11 | RESISTANCE AGAINST COLONIAL DOMINATION IN THE COMOROS
Dawud Bumaye

— MAIN /// SPACES OF LABOR

15 | INTRODUCTION
Léopold Lambert

18 | CHOREOGRAPHY OF LABOR AND POLITICAL ORGANIZING IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
Ibis Batignolles Hotel Workers on strike (with photos by Louise Rocabert)

24 | SAVING THE FACTORY, NOT THE WORKERS: THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH
Prii Sen

32 | WHOSE HOME IS IT? THE WORKPLACE OF MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS UNDER KAFALA
Gemma Justo and Ghiwa Sayegh

36 | SEX WORKING ECONOMIES OF SPACE
Red Schulte (with illustrations by Marten Katze)

42 | MIGRANT SEASONAL WORKERS IN SPAIN: BETWEEN VIOLENCE, EXPLOITATION, AND SILENCE
Youssef M. Ouled and Najim M. Ouled (with photos by Teresa Palomo)

46 | THINKING THROUGH SCIENCE AND FICTION: THE MAQUILADORA
AND ITS REMOTE LABOR
Alex Rivera

52 | THE HOSPITAL AS A PLACE OF LABOR IN A SETTLER COLONIAL SETTING: PALESTINE-ISRAEL
Osama Tanous

56 | NO MORE DEATH WORK: WE MUST ABOLISH PRISON UNIONS
Fathima Cader