Power and resistance: Iranian day-laborers’ lived experience of power relations in the workplace

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article discusses power in four dimensions and delves into the modes of encountering power by the subaltern. We delved into the lived experience of 25 male day laborers in the construction section in the city of Tehran, Iran, using narrative interviews that are analyzed from the perspective of hermeneutical phenomenology. The findings suggest that the concept of resistance cannot explain the encountering of power and that a broader conceptual network including receptiveness, powerlessness, as well as resistance, must be considered. The emergence of each of these modes depends on the actor’s situation and their interpretation of the situation.