this page features my phd dissertation on surveillance, mascots, warehouse workers, the environment as it exists within amazon (corp.)
contents
introduction: a network of care
chapter 3. peccy: the fiction of a “happy” worker
chapter 4. ongoing struggle: unionizing environments in chicago, bessemer, and minneapolis
conclusion: dreaming beyond amazon
introduction: a network of care
introduction - a network of care frames amazonification as both a lived experience and a structural condition, drawing on the metaphor of the palm tree to imagine networks of solidarity and care. it reimagines amazon’s vast logistics systems as potential infrastructures for community well-being, grounding the dissertation’s call for collective resistance and compassionate futures.
chapter 1. define amazon
chapter 1. define amazon interrogates the corporate mythology surrounding amazon, using the danbo mascot to reveal how narratives of convenience and cuteness mask systemic labour exploitation. it exposes the corporation’s self-branding strategies and critiques how these narratives obscure the material realities of warehouse work.
chapter 2. seeing orange
chapter 2. seeing orange traces the symbolic power of amazon’s orange mascot, peccy, connecting it to histories of carcerality, surveillance, and racialized labour. the chapter reclaims the colour orange as a site of healing and cultural significance through references to orange shirt day, buddhist robes, marigolds, and mehndi.
chapter 3. peccy: the fiction of a “happy” worker
chapter 3. peccy: the fiction of a “happy” worker interprets peccy’s design as an ideological tool that erases gender, race, and individuality, while embedding corporate surveillance into the visual language of workplace culture. by critiquing the “happy worker” fiction, it foregrounds the dehumanizing conditions experienced by amazon’s predominantly racialized workforce.
chapter 4. ongoing struggle: unionizing environments in chicago, bessemer, and minneapolis
chapter 4. ongoing struggle: unionizing environments in chicago, bessemer, and minneapolis focuses on the amazon workers’ international logo as a symbol of resistance, this chapter examines the organizing efforts at dch1, bhm1, and msp1 between 2018 and 2021. it highlights the courage, strategy, and community-building of workers fighting for union recognition under hostile conditions.
conclusion: dreaming beyond amazon
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conclusion: dreaming beyond amazon imagines futures in which amazon’s exploitative structures are transformed, diminished, or abolished. centering the visions of poor, working-class, black, and brown warehouse workers, it invites readers to embrace multiple pathways toward justice, collective care, and self-determination.