This study addresses how violence is mobilized through wage theft in feminized workplaces thriving within the global value chain. Guided by Judith Butler’s concept of derealization, this longitudinal case study on the Bangladesh garment industry advances the current debate on violence in Organization Studies. First, it re-conceptualizes the notion of an “ideal worker.” Empirical evidence reveals that, unlike in Western societies, young and childless women in the Global South and their vulnerabilities woven into poverty, inequality, climate change, patriarchy, social stratification, and limited employment opportunities make them “ideal workers.” This status remains valid as long as they remain vulnerable and demonstrate no agency in resisting the discourse on dehumanization, dispossession, and displacement. Second, this study illuminates the practice of wage theft, which has emerged as a dominant form of violence in feminized workplaces. Organizations also deploy secrecy to continue theft, thereby inflicting further physical and psychological violence. This study highlights the fact that socioeconomic vulnerabilities and unresisted violence oppress a docile workforce to become “ideal workers.” It is a neoliberal myth that helps powerful actors shore up their power and privileges through derealization.

中文翻译：

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孟加拉国服装业的工资盗窃、保密和“理想工人”的虚幻

这项研究探讨了在全球价值链中蓬勃发展的女性化工作场所如何通过克扣工资来动员暴力。在朱迪思·巴特勒（Judith Butler）的脱离现实概念的指导下，这项关于孟加拉国服装业的纵向案例研究推动了当前组织研究中关于暴力的辩论。首先，它重新定义了“理想工人”的概念。经验证据表明，与西方社会不同，南半球的年轻和无子女妇女及其与贫困、不平等、气候变化、父权制、社会分层和有限就业机会交织在一起的脆弱性使她们成为“理想工人”。只要他们仍然脆弱，并且没有表现出抵制非人化、剥夺和流离失所的言论的能力，这种地位就仍然有效。其次，这项研究阐明了克扣工资的做法，这种做法已成为女性化工作场所的主要暴力形式。组织还秘密地继续盗窃，从而造成进一步的身心暴力。这项研究强调了这样一个事实：社会经济的脆弱性和不受抵制的暴力迫使温顺的劳动力成为“理想的工人”。这是一个新自由主义神话，帮助强大的行为者通过现实解体来巩固他们的权力和特权。