Ethical agency and worker precarity amid polycrisis: a protest narrative analysis

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Abstract: This study explores the ethical dimensions of worker precarity and protest agency in the context of ongoing polycrisis conditions in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Drawing upon publicly available protest videos from various occupational groups-such as healthcare, education, and public sector employees-the study employs a thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns of ethical discourse, institutional critique, and collective resistance. A total of six protest cases were analyzed. The findings reveal six overarching ethical themes: precarity and vulnerability, moral agency and resistance, institutional betrayal, collective dignity and solidarity, justice-oriented appeals, and emotional exhaustion. These themes reflect how workers’ lived experiences are morally constructed and publicly articulated as demands for justice, recognition, and accountability. Radar diagrams further quantify the relative intensity of each theme across protest categories. The results suggest that workers do not merely react to material deprivation but frame their struggles through ethical language and civic engagement, thereby demonstrating moral resilience amid systemic neglect. This study contributes to the literature on business ethics, worker agency, and crisis governance by highlighting how ethical imagination and protest narratives are mobilized from the margins in response to institutional failures. It also raises implications for organizational ethics, public accountability, and the need for inclusive policy responses during overlapping crises.

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