Climate change and the labour process: The case of construction work

Drawing on a case study of construction work in Switzerland, this article explores the potential application of labour process theory (LPT) to analysis of climate change-related work conflicts. A multi-level analysis promises to aid in the understanding of the interaction between politics at the levels of the workplace and institutional regulation when mediating causes as well as effects of climate change. Exemplary is the relation of precarious employment and precarious residence status to worker risk of heat stress. An LPT approach is likewise well-suited for grasping corporate practices of (mal)adaptation, as well as their contestation. The article concludes that LPT may be expanded so as to take into account more systematically the ecological dimension of the labour process.