The eclipse of solidarity: Precarious work, agency and collective action

IF 1.3 Q2 POLITICAL SCIENCE
Adrián Herranz
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Precarious work is a growing and alarming phenomenon. This paper analyses two of its distinctive normative features. First, precarity increases the risks workers face, blurring their capacity for prospection and lessening their security in accessing the opportunities associated with their jobs. Second, precarious work challenges workers’ collective action capacity. I will argue that both features threaten workers’ republican freedom. I develop the second point by presenting a conception of solidarity between workers and then showing how precarious work erodes it. On the one hand, when the labour market is dualised, precarity is distributed unevenly and the risks undergone by groups of workers are different. Thus, dual labour markets create a potential conflict of interest between the preferences of different groups, insiders and outsiders. On the other hand, various economic changes hinder workers from acting based on shared purposes due to increased coordination costs. To the extent that workers’ power depends on their bonds and collective action, primarily through unions, the eclipse of their solidarity leaves them powerless and thus increases their domination. Finally, I consider various scenarios that could boost workers’ collective power.
团结的日蚀:不稳定工作、代理和集体行动
不稳定工作是一个日益增长且令人担忧的现象。本文分析了不稳定工作的两个显著规范特征。首先,不稳定工作增加了工人面临的风险,模糊了他们的预测能力,降低了他们获得与工作相关的机会的安全感。其次,不稳定工作挑战了工人的集体行动能力。我将论证这两个特点对工人共和自由的威胁。我将通过提出工人之间团结的概念来阐述第二点,然后说明不稳定工作是如何侵蚀这种团结的。一方面,当劳动力市场二元化时,不稳定性分布不均,工人群体所承受的风险也不同。因此,双重劳动力市场造成了不同群体、内部人和外部人的偏好之间的潜在利益冲突。另一方面,由于协调成本的增加,各种经济变化阻碍了工人根据共同目的采取行动。如果工人的权力依赖于他们的纽带和集体行动(主要是通过工会),那么他们的团结被削弱就会使他们无能为力,从而加剧他们的统治。最后,我考虑了可以增强工人集体力量的各种方案。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
2.60
自引率
9.10%
发文量
26
期刊介绍: The European Journal of Political Theory provides a high profile research forum. Broad in scope and international in readership, the Journal is named after its geographical location, but is committed to advancing original debates in political theory in the widest possible sense--geographical, historical, and ideological. The Journal publishes contributions in analytic political philosophy, political theory, comparative political thought, and the history of ideas of any tradition. Work that challenges orthodoxies and disrupts entrenched debates is particularly encouraged. All research articles are subject to triple-blind peer-review by internationally renowned scholars in order to ensure the highest standards of quality and impartiality.
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