Post-industrial Labour Market Research Articles

Self-employment as an Alternative to Labor Market Bifurcation: The Role of Human and Ethnic Social Capital

The article examines the role of self-employment in a post-industrial labor market bifurcated between high paying-jobs in the profession and low-paying jobs in the services and construction. In the context, self-employment emerges as an alternative to pour wages and unemployment among both native and immigrant workers. The analysis shows that self-employment is not homogenous between “survival” enterprises yielding minimal income and incorporated firms whose owners earn incomes significantly above their wage-earning counterparts. We examine these differences among whites, blacks, native born and major immigrant nationalities. We examine determinants of earnings and self-employment and find that both are significantly influenced by human capital factors but that, controlling for them, significant differences exist among ethnic groups. These are attributed to differences in social capital linked to ethnic networks. The paper illustrates these differences with examples from the immigrant economic literature and discusses the implications for individual and collective economic achievement.

Glimpses of resistance: Entrepreneurial subjectivity and freelance journalist work

New precarious work practices are emerging in the post-industrial labor market together with subjects that are fit to cope with them. The literature on neoliberal governmentality theorizes how individuals are made to embrace a subjectivity that enforces competition, personal responsibility, and autonomy. However, few studies so far have investigated how such subjectivities may be resisted. Building on a study of freelance journalists, this article investigates the question of resistance. Although these professionals are indeed governed by a neoliberal regime, the findings illustrate how they also attempt to resist by enacting alternative subjectivities. The freelance journalists engage in resistance by organizing professional communities and boycotting exploitative copyright contracts, reduce and refuse work, lower the quality on delivered jobs, and quit freelance journalism altogether. By doing so, they refuse personal responsibility for their situation, they spend their time not generating economic value, and they enact a subjectivity of collaborator rather than competitor. This study thus illustrates how individuals who are poised to embrace a subjectivity as ‘entrepreneurial subjects par excellence’ are, despite everything, still able to engage in practices that constitute subject positions that denaturalize and challenge entrepreneurial subjectivity, even if the immediate outcomes of such resistance may be ambiguous at best. The study adds to the recent literature on resistance, particularly to the discussion about what it is one resists and against whom resistance is aimed, by showing how more traditional notions of resistance may intermingle and interact with more recent ideas related to refusal and exit movements.

Dualization and Electoral Realignment

AbstractThe growing research on post-industrial labor market inequality bears a strong—yet widely misunderstood—relevance for the literature on electoral realignment. In this contribution, I contend that the assumption of “labor market outsiders” being equal to “globalization/modernization losers” is largely mistaken. Rather, atypical work and unemployment is most widespread among service workers, whose primary electoral choice is to abstain from voting. This implies that the ongoing reconfiguration of European party systems—through the rise of right-wing populist parties—is driven by skilled and routine workers in the manufacturing sector (the traditional “insiders”). Hence, the rise of right-wing populist parties reflects a political mobilization of the formerly well-protected industrial working class, rather than of labor market outsiders.

A different perspective on post-industrial labor market restructuring in Detroit and Pittsburgh

ABSTRACT The Midwestern cities of Pittsburgh and Detroit are often held up as quintessential examples of post-industrial urban trajectories—one positive (Pittsburgh) and one negative (Detroit). In this paper, we investigate the structural economic shifts reshaping work opportunities in these two urban regions in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession, using a shift share analysis of changes in occupational distributions from 2009 to 2016. Through this analysis, we identify comparable patterns in both cities, including the growth of creative workers across industries, and declining demand for service workers balanced only by growth in service-reliant industries. These findings add nuance to the prevailing narratives associated with Detroit and Pittsburgh, and demonstrate how structural forces intersect with understandings of “work” in these cities.

Immobility and insecure labour markets: An active response to precarious employment

This article explores how people experience and respond to a post-industrial labour market context through residential (im)mobility. Focusing on places that are represented through a range of official measures as ‘declining’, the research explains why people may remain in weaker labour market areas, rather than moving to places that could offer greater employment opportunities. The case study approach focused on two urban neighbourhoods in England, Nearthorpe (Sheffield) and Eastland (Grimsby). The article draws on repeated, in-depth, biographical interviews with 25 individuals across 18 households. The research shows that stability of residence was a necessary counterbalance to a low-paid and insecure work context. Immobility facilitated access to a range of informal support networks. However, immobility was not simply a by-product of lack of mobility or a passive state. This research conceptualises immobility as an active process in which participants engaged in different forms of adaptation and resistance in the face of changing labour market conditions.

Swedish class voting in decline: Does a new class schema make a difference?

In the light of observations of the decline in class voting, some scholars have suggested that the class variable should be reconstructed in a way that makes post-industrial labor market trends more visible. A leading proponent of this view is Daniel Oesch. In this article we compare the development in class voting according to his class schema compared to a more traditional one, in the Swedish National Election Studies 1968-2014. The results show that the schemas give remarkably similar results, that Oesch’s schema is not markedly better at predicting voting for newer political parties, and that the development in the distribution of positions in the labor market does not make a big difference for the strength of class voting. We discuss the implications of these findings.

Book review: Minimum Wages, Collective Bargaining and Economic Development in Asia and Europe: A Labour Perspective and Non-Standard Employment in Post-Industrial Labour Markets: An Occupational Perspective

Book review: Minimum Wages, Collective Bargaining and Economic Development in Asia and Europe: A Labour Perspective and Non-Standard Employment in Post-Industrial Labour Markets: An Occupational Perspective

Book Review: Non-Standard Employment in Post-Industrial Labour Markets. An Occupational Perspective

Book Review: Non-Standard Employment in Post-Industrial Labour Markets. An Occupational Perspective

Placing the criminalization of school discipline in economic context

The topic of school discipline and punishment has received growing attention. Much of this work explores the rise of exclusion-based policies, increasingly punitive practices, and a buildup of security in schools. Explanations for this often focus on large-scale incidents, the perpetuation of social inequalities, students’ perceived racial/ethnic threat, and shifts in modern governance. Little work, however, has considered the financial aspects influencing schools to adopt criminal justice-based disciplinary practices. This article expands the literature by offering a multilevel investigation that contextualizes a “criminalized school discipline” within economic conditions over the last 30 years. In particular, this article delineates how four economic trends have influenced this trend. These include changes within the postindustrial labor market, federal incentives and markets prioritizing greater school security, tightening financial resources amid budget cuts, and the criminalization of the youth consumer economy. Though prior explanations lend noteworthy explanations for the rise of a punitive disciplinary code in schools, they overlook important economic effects. Investigating these financials conditions will help unpack the complex nature of school discipline while uncovering noteworthy policy implications for how youth are reacted to and punished.

Methods of Increasing the Intensity of Innovative Development of the Higher Education Based on the Interaction of the Scientific and Education Spaces: The Managerial Aspect

The crisis of higher education in Russia is a particular manifestation of the systemic crisis of the country, related to the fact that the existing paradigm of the higher school, established in the industrial era, no longer meets the requirements of the post-industrial labor market. Representations of the educational services meeting the post-industrial paradigm of higher education allow creating a model of the “university environment.” This model shows that at the low efficiency of direct, i.e. classical education, the determining factor is the factor of interpersonal communication. This allows us to state that in the Russian conditions, the result achievement should be provided by modifying the basic paradigm, rather than investing financial and/or other resources. The article discusses the prerequisites and problems of the higher education reform in Russia and formulates necessary directions and methodological support for further development of higher education in the conditions of formation of an innovative economy. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s4p249

Regulating the Risk of Unemployment: National Adaptations to Post-industrial Labour Markets in Europe

Regulating the Risk of Unemployment: National Adaptations to Post-industrial Labour Markets in Europe

The role of networks and connections in educational elites’ labour market entrance

Despite extensive research on the role of ‘personal’ capital on labour market transitions, little is known about how those with elite credentials use networks and connection to improve their labour market chances. This becomes especially relevant within debates on the meritocratic nature of the post-industrial labour market. This article investigates how networks and connections aid educational elites to gain entrance into the upper echelons of the graduate labour market in two countries: France and England. Using interview data from final year students from two elite higher education institutions, Science Po and the University of Oxford, it is assessed whether their elite educational experiences are translated into networks and connections that aid their future labour market positions. The findings reveal that in both countries students have extensive opportunities to familiarise themselves with elite employers and create useful networks. In addition, students frequently arrange exclusive internships to seek future opportunities. We argue that these networks and connections are inherent to the elite educational experience and they could therefore help contribute to a credentialisation of the graduate labour market.

Regulating the Risk of Unemployment: National Adaptations to Post-Industrial Labour Markets in Europe. Edited by Jochen Clasen and Daniel Clegg. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 384p. $99.00. - Social Policy in the Smaller European Union States. Edited by Gary B. Cohen, Ben W. Ansell, Robert Henry Cox, and Jane Gingrich. New York: Berghahn, 2011. 300p. $95.00. - Dismantling Social

Regulating the Risk of Unemployment: National Adaptations to Post-Industrial Labour Markets in Europe. Edited by Jochen Clasen and Daniel Clegg. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 384p. $55.00. - Volume 11 Issue 3

Erratum: Employment inequalities through busts and booms: The changing roles of health and education in Norway 1980-2005

In this article, we study trends in employment by education and long-standing illness (LSI), and discuss whether the findings are compatible with business cycle fluctuations or postindustrial labour market developments. Our analyses are based on data on the working age population (aged 25—66 years) from the Norwegian Survey of Living Conditions (1980—2005). We find increasing differences in employment between those reporting LSI and those who do not, while gender differences are getting smaller. Interaction terms from logistic regression analyses between time and LSI, and time and education, indicate that people with lower education and those reporting LSI are more often found outside the labour market over time. While the 1980s recession did not have much impact on employment inequalities, the more severe 1990s recession coincided with widening employment inequalities by education and health. Periods of economic recovery did not mitigate these inequalities. The study concludes that health and educational inequalities in employment have been rising in Norway since 1980. As business cycle changes alone could not account for the development, elements of the postindustrial labour market are discussed and considered.

The Unequal Incidence of Non-Standard Employment Across Occupational Groups: An Empirical Analysis of Post-Industrial Labour Markets in Germany and Europe

The paper addresses an often neglected question in labour market research: to which extent do outcomes aggregated on the national level disguise occupational diversity in employment conditions? In particular, how and why do occupational groups differ with regard to the incidence of non-standard employment? To explore these questions, the paper derives a detailed occupational scheme from the literature, capturing the variety of labour market outcomes within countries. In a second step, the scheme is theoretically linked to the topic of non-standard work. It is argued that different degrees of skill specificity across occupational groups produce diverging incentives for flexible and long-term employment, respectively. This leads to the expectation of (some) service-sector occupations showing stronger tendencies towards non-standard employment than those in the industrial sector. Based on European and German micro data, the categorisation is used to decompose various labour market indicators. The results clearly demonstrate the unequal incidence of non-standard employment along the lines of the suggested categorisation. Moreover, the longitudinal perspective suggests that traditionally functioning occupational groups will be crowded out by more destandardised ones.

Employment Inequalities Through Busts and Booms

In this article, we study trends in employment by education and longstanding illness (LSI), and discuss whether the findings are compatible with business cycle fluctuations or postindustrial labour market developments. Our analyses are based on data on the working age population (aged 25—66 years) from the Norwegian Survey of Living Conditions (1980—2005). We find increasing differences in employment between those reporting LSI and those who do not, while gender differences are getting smaller. Interaction terms from logistic regression analyses between time and LSI and time and education indicate that people with lower education and those reporting LSI are more often found outside the labour market over time. While the 1980s recession did not have much impact on employment inequalities, the more severe 1990s recession coincided with widening employment inequalities by education and health. Periods of economic recovery did not lessen these inequalities. The study concludes that health and educational inequalities in employment have been rising in Norway since 1980. As business cycle changes alone could not account for the development, elements of the postindustrial labour market are discussed and considered.

Social Tenants, Attachment to Place and Work in the Post-industrial Labour Market: Underlining the Limits of Housing-based Explanations of Labour Immobility?

Policy makers have increasingly highlighted the role of social housing in restricting the job-related mobility of tenants. This paper, drawing upon in-depth interviews with residents of the Manor estate in Sheffield, discusses the strength of housing-based explanations of worklessness. It finds that residents have responded to economic transformation by drawing on locally concentrated social networks and are unwilling to sever these close ties in order to access jobs that are frequently experienced as exploitative and demeaning. Consequently, their inertia can be viewed as a rational response to the low paid, chronically insecure jobs available in the post-industrial labour market. The author concludes that the significance of housing-based explanations of labour immobility is that they are simultaneously congruent with welfare reform that uses a compulsive strategy to enforce work habits and provide ammunition for those antagonistic to the principle of social housing.

Offenders in the post-industrial labour market: from the underclass to the undercaste?

UK policy makers have increasingly sought to improve the employment prospects of offenders to help reduce re-offending. Yet the past 40 years have witnessed profound changes in the nature of work. This article examines how offenders have been affected by economic transformation and the possible implications for re-offending. The author finds that the possession of a criminal record was a minor inconvenience to finding work in the industrial labour market of the 1960s. However, deindustrialisation and the growing service intensity of the economy have relegated many to the margins of the labour market with potentially profound implications for re-offending.

Interactions in Expert Service Work

Using participant observation and in-depth interviews, the author explores the experiences of a relatively new form of semiprofessionals, personal trainers, to advance our understandings of the complexities of interactive service work. Personal training is a compelling example of the increasing number of occupations that require workers to use emotional labor and specialized knowledge to provide customized service for individual clients. The author examines a range of service interactions that occur in personal training sessions to explore how workers demonstrated their professionalism and negotiated the competing demands of their jobs. This study provides an extension to the extant understanding of “expert service work” by highlighting the unique features of hybrid forms of work emerging in the postindustrial labor market. Furthermore, it extends implications about workers who are in a rapidly expanding, but not yet fully credentialized, profession and how they manage their selves to legitimate their contributions for potential clients. This research also raises a number of questions surrounding the gendered accomplishment of professionalism.

Offenders in the post-industrial labour market: lubricating the revolving door?

Offenders in the post-industrial labour market: lubricating the revolving door?