Ever since labour geography first started demonstrating workers’ ability to shape geographies, geographers have problematised the agency of labour. This article responds to a recent intervention by Strauss (2020a; Progress in Human Geography 44[1]:150–159), challenging the sub-discipline to reflect on who counts as a worker and what counts as work. By combining theories of roles and intersectionality, the article poses a related question: as whom do workers act? Theoretically, a critical realist approach to labour agency forms the basis for an intersectional reading of the active subject. To illustrate our argument, we juxtapose the accounts of three people who speak for groups of workers or are asked to justify the actions of collective actors like unions or social movements. By showing how these actors improvise their own role incumbency while actively negotiating social identities, the article problematises the epistemology of constrained labour agency while responding to Strauss’ call for a rethinking of the ontologies of work.

中文翻译：

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受限劳工机构的作用和交叉点

自从劳动地理学首次展示工人塑造地理的能力以来，地理学家就对劳动的代理问题提出了质疑。本文回应了施特劳斯最近的干预（2020a；人文地理学进展44[1]:150–159），挑战该子学科反思谁算作工人以及什么算作工作。通过结合角色理论和交叉理论，文章提出了一个相关问题：工人扮演谁的角色？从理论上讲，对劳动机构的批判现实主义方法构成了对活跃主题进行交叉解读的基础。为了说明我们的论点，我们将三个代表工人团体发言或被要求为工会或社会运动等集体行为者的行为辩护的人的叙述并置。通过展示这些行动者如何在积极协商社会身份的同时即兴发挥自己的角色，本文对受约束的劳动机构的认识论提出了问题，同时回应了施特劳斯重新思考工作本体论的呼吁。