Scott and Kelley Journal 4/20 - Leigh Bagood

In the Scott reading, he describe what he calls “everyday forms of resistance.” In the context of the peasant societies his study is based on, these are subtle, covert acts that peasants engage in to resist the oppression of their superiors. This may include foot dragging, pilfering, or slowdowns. Peasants could expect results from these acts without having to engage in organized, peasant revolts that would put their lives at risk. They hid behind the safety of anonymity when performing these acts of resistance. Kelley applies this to his own life in his narrative about working at McDonald’s where he and his co-workers would resist their poor pay and long hours by, for example, cooking too much food before closing time to ensure they could eat the leftovers. Another aspect of their everyday resistance was cultural resistance in which they dressed or groomed themselves a certain way to rebel against strict uniform rules or “stylized” their work. The term “cultural resistance” immediately reminded me of the Manong generation of Filipino-American migrant workers who would resist the oppression of their poor treatment and low-wage work in the fields by dressing in style and going to taxi dance halls for leisure.