Between solidarity and division: Discrimination, trust, and working conditions in Koreatown supermarkets

This paper examines working conditions and labor relations in the contemporary multiethnic enclave through a study of supermarket workers in Koreatown neighborhoods across Los Angeles and Orange counties. Drawing on 331 worker surveys and 20 in-depth interviews, the study analyzes how race, ethnicity, class, and immigration status shape workplace dynamics in a sector central to enclave economies. The findings identify three interrelated patterns: pervasive workplace pressure and abuse, stagnant wages and wage theft, and discrimination. Contrary to earlier theories that emphasize ethnic solidarity and mobility within enclave economies, the analysis shows that employers frequently mobilize ethnic difference and immigration status as mechanisms of labor control, producing divisions that undermine worker voice and collective action. Situating these findings within broader transformations of Koreatown as a globalized, multiethnic enclave, the paper argues that labor conditions are shaped by racialized forms of power consistent with theories of racial capitalism.