Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level
ABSTRACT The classical conceptualization of the working class, of workers’ collective action and, especially, of trade unionism, was implicitly or explicitly based on the Standard Employment Relationship that, for a few decades, has been dominant in North America, Europe, Japan and Australasia. The...
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crwiley:10.1111/dech.12115 2024-06-23T07:55:13+00:00 Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level Breman, Jan van der Linden, Marcel 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dech.12115 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fdech.12115 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/dech.12115 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Development and Change volume 45, issue 5, page 920-940 ISSN 0012-155X 1467-7660 journal-article 2014 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12115 2024-06-11T04:49:09Z ABSTRACT The classical conceptualization of the working class, of workers’ collective action and, especially, of trade unionism, was implicitly or explicitly based on the Standard Employment Relationship that, for a few decades, has been dominant in North America, Europe, Japan and Australasia. The ‘classical’ model of collective bargaining, which has shaped the world's traditional labour movements, was based on this conceptualization. However, it is now increasingly undermined by the rapid spread of ‘informal’ or ‘precarious’ labour in the global North. It is our contention that the ‘classical’ view of the working class and workers’ collective action is fundamentally biased and takes as a norm or standard what was in fact an historical exception. The real norm or standard in global capitalism is insecurity, informality or precariousness, and the Standard Employment Relationship is an historical phenomenon which had a deep impact in a limited part of the world for a relatively short period of time. If, as we argue, the ‘Rest’ is not now becoming like the ‘West’, but the other way round, then the ‘traditional’ forms of collective action that have developed in the North Atlantic region during the last two centuries are gradually losing much of their impact. New forms of collective action are emerging, though these are often still at an embryonic stage. It is, therefore, high time to rethink the concept of the working class and the ways in which it can further its interests. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Wiley Online Library Development and Change 45 5 920 940 |
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English |
description |
ABSTRACT The classical conceptualization of the working class, of workers’ collective action and, especially, of trade unionism, was implicitly or explicitly based on the Standard Employment Relationship that, for a few decades, has been dominant in North America, Europe, Japan and Australasia. The ‘classical’ model of collective bargaining, which has shaped the world's traditional labour movements, was based on this conceptualization. However, it is now increasingly undermined by the rapid spread of ‘informal’ or ‘precarious’ labour in the global North. It is our contention that the ‘classical’ view of the working class and workers’ collective action is fundamentally biased and takes as a norm or standard what was in fact an historical exception. The real norm or standard in global capitalism is insecurity, informality or precariousness, and the Standard Employment Relationship is an historical phenomenon which had a deep impact in a limited part of the world for a relatively short period of time. If, as we argue, the ‘Rest’ is not now becoming like the ‘West’, but the other way round, then the ‘traditional’ forms of collective action that have developed in the North Atlantic region during the last two centuries are gradually losing much of their impact. New forms of collective action are emerging, though these are often still at an embryonic stage. It is, therefore, high time to rethink the concept of the working class and the ways in which it can further its interests. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Breman, Jan van der Linden, Marcel |
spellingShingle |
Breman, Jan van der Linden, Marcel Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level |
author_facet |
Breman, Jan van der Linden, Marcel |
author_sort |
Breman, Jan |
title |
Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level |
title_short |
Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level |
title_full |
Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level |
title_fullStr |
Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level |
title_full_unstemmed |
Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level |
title_sort |
informalizing the economy: the return of the social question at a global level |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dech.12115 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fdech.12115 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/dech.12115 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Development and Change volume 45, issue 5, page 920-940 ISSN 0012-155X 1467-7660 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12115 |
container_title |
Development and Change |
container_volume |
45 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
920 |
op_container_end_page |
940 |
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1802647694838071296 |