“KAD SI OPUŠTEN, TADA MOŽEŠ DATI SVE OD SEBE”: ETNOGRAFIJA RADA U PULSKOJ ARENA TRIKOTAŽI
“WHEN YOU ARE FEELING RELAXED, YOU CAN BE AT YOUR BEST”: ETHNOGRAPHY OF WORK IN PULA’S ARENA KNITTING FACTORY

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to provide an insight into a part of a rich and under-researched working history of garment industry in the Olga Ban or Arena modna trikotaža factory in the town of Pula that was founded in 1947 and declared bankruptcy in 2014. Eight interviews with former workers, whose testimonies are the primary source for the content of the paper, are used to highlight those memories that were claimed most important by the former employees; i.e. wages, conditions of work, women’s “double burden”, relations between workers and foremen, memories of labour actions as well as a memory of “decaying” conditions of work and relations within the “garment community” that coincides with the period of post-socialism. While the socialist period of work is described as difficult for women but better organized and existentially more secure, the factory management in the period of post-socialism is claimed to be too loose and more chaotic when compared to the previous one. From the worker’s point of view, shutting down the Arena factory also meant dismantling a part of the local community within which women could gain financial emancipation and wider recognition.

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