Labor Sociology Research Articles

Negotiating the Digital Transformation of Work: Non-Standard Workers’ Voice, Collective Rights and Mobilisation Practices in the Platform Economy

This paper attempts to grapple with the collective dimension of the phenomenon of the digital transformation of work. In particular, it explores the relevant legal framework, as well as practical obstacles and concrete responses to the process of “platformisation” of labour. It questions why and for what collective bargaining may be a viable tool to “negotiate” the direction(s) of this paradigm shift. In particular, it focuses on institutional approaches that pursue inclusive and engaging strategies aimed at organising across labour market segments. It also discusses the extent to which trade unions are interested in the fate of non-standard workers, what strategies they follow and what tools they employ. At the same time, it maps other actions and initiatives carried out by self-organised groups. It focuses on the actors and factors which either hinder or facilitate the development of solidarity. The topic of mobilisation has been a central interest of academics in the fields of industrial relations, labour sociology and social movement studies. By adopting an empirical approach and a cross-disciplinary analytical lens, this work places itself at the crossroads of these disciplines. The paper is organised as follows. After providing an outline of the main implications of the spread of new technologies and its impacts on employment relationships, part 2 explores the legal framework regulating collective rights, by considering a number of supranational systems of regulation and discussing the potential impediments arising from a narrow interpretation of antitrust immunities and restrictions. However, practical, in addition to legal, obstacles hamper or make less attractive the exercise of fundamental freedoms for non-standard workers. Accordingly, after describing current difficulties, principal actors, key actions and success factors in a selection of European countries, part 3 assesses recent initiatives and achievements. Finally, part 4 sets out the paper’s key conclusions by estimating future developments and offering policy pointers.

Employment trajectories in heterogeneous regions: Evidence from Germany.

To what extent do regional characteristics influence employment trajectories? Do regional factors diversely affect the employment careers of different sociodemographic groups? By investigating these questions, we extend current life course research in two ways: First, from a conceptual perspective, we use approaches from regional economics in addition to established sociological labour market theories to gain insights into the effects of regional determinants on individual labour market outcomes. Second, from a methodological point of view, we conduct event history analyses based on a German dataset that contains information on individuals, firms and regions. Our results show that there are considerable regional heterogeneities regarding population density and the amount of human capital endowment, both of which influence working careers differently. Regional agglomeration predominantly offers opportunities in terms of employment trajectories, while regional human capital accumulation increases employment risks. Additionally, our findings indicate that group-specific inequalities with respect to employment careers can be weakened or even strengthened by regional frame conditions. Female and foreign employees benefit most from denser regions and from a higher human capital endowment. By contrast, the unemployment risks of workers who previously experienced unemployment periods during their working lives are increased by both of these regional characteristics. Findings regarding education level are mixed: Workers with occupational qualifications profit from regional agglomeration to a greater extent than do low or even generally qualified workers. However, a high local human capital endowment leads to skill segregation between vocationally trained and highly qualified employees.

How Can We Teach Fieldwork in Sociology of Labor to Undergraduate Students?

How Can We Teach Fieldwork in Sociology of Labor to Undergraduate Students?

Identificación política y valores profesionales en tensión en la práctica periodística en dos salas de redacción de la ciudad de Buenos Aires

The goal of this article is to look at the tension between professional identity and political identificationas experienced by journalists in the newsrooms of Pagina/12 and between 2011 and 2015, when the editorial lines of both newspapers were in tune with the national government’s policies. From an ethnographic perspective (Restrepo, 2016), this article addresses the tensions and intersections between journalists’ political identification and that of their media outlets. By analyzing this topic, we can appreciate what values the former identify as part of their professional practice. To do this, we returned to the contributions of labor sociology, specifically to those on symbolic interactionism (Abbott, 1993; Becker, 2006; Becker, 2009; Becker, Geer, Hughes, y Strauss, 1961; Becker y Strauss, 1956; Hughes, 2012 y Geer, 1972) and dramaturgical analysis (Goffman, 2006), in order to study two distinct moments in the process of identification. The first involves the hiring of young journalists and how their expectations, upon entering the world of journalism, are affected by the affinity between their own political identification and the editorial line of the newspaper they now work for. The second moment describes situations, in everyday content production inside the newsroom, in which journalists discuss their newspaper’s stance in relation to certain political events, leading to deviations from the editorial line. After studying these moments, we shall find, for example, that criterias for newsworthiness are not always starting points for journalistic work but are instead frequently called into question. Rather than using predefined parameters to analyze daily newsroom tasks, we shall reconstruct the norms and values of journalistic ethics by looking at the continuous self-reflection undertaken by journalists during their everyday work.

Staying in the Loop: Formal Feedback Mechanisms Connecting Vocational Training to the World of Work in Europe

Context: Vocational education and training (VET) is expected to be designed for creating learning outcomes which meet the needs for skills and competences in the labour market. Hence, identifying current and upcoming skill requirements and ensuring that these requirements are incorporated into education has long been the subject of academic and policy discussion. Governance processes keeping VET systems up-to-date have been more recently addressed as `feedback mechanisms'. The term broadly summarizes the interplay of institutions, actors and processes which allows the continuous renewal of VET provision (i.e. by creating new qualifications or updating curricula). The aim of the paper is to enhance the understanding of cross-national variations in formally institutionalised `feedback mechanisms' between VET and the labour market.Method: The research builds on a comparative analysis of case studies in 15 European countries. The paper presents examples for four different `formal feedback mechanisms' in Germany, France, England, and Austria.Results: Four main types of formal mechanism have been identified: 1) The liberal model explained by VET in England and Higher VET in Austria; 2) The statist model explained by school-based VET in Austria; 3) the participatory model explained by VET in France and 4) the coordinated model explained by apprenticeship training in Germany and Austria.Conclusions: Existing approaches in the economic sociology of labour markets, the varieties of capitalism approach as well as comparative research on welfare states are useful in predicting whether particular VET systems are likely to be predominant. However, they do not provide an alternative in describing differences in VET systems which the concept of formal feedback mechanism does. Moreover, by analysing formal feedback mechanisms, it is possible to demarcate where a VET sub-system ends and another VET sub-systems begins. In this sense research presented here also asks for new standards for comparative VET research as it suggests that entities to be compared are not countries' overall VET systems, but their potential sub-systems.

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY SIBERIA AS A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY: SOCIAL MOBILITY AMONG THE RUSSIAN PIONEERS

On the basis of individual biographies, we explore the social mobility patterns among the Russian colonists of Siberia (members of Russia’s service class) in the 1600, with reference to theories relating to sociology of labor and social stratifi cation. We show how peasants, hunters, fi shers, and déclassés were co-opted into the service class and how their social status changed at all levels— horizontal, vertical, geographic, individual, group, inter-generational, and within-generational. Occupation, skills, and income were important factors affecting social mobility. For nearly all categories of migrants, the most common tendency was migration of entire families, though younger single migrants were more likely to move over longer distances. In Siberia, where social regulation norms copied those of the metropolis, upward social mobility occurred nearly exclusively within institutions. Social service provided maximal opportunity for the individual’s promotion and for the current and future status of his relatives. This was an effi cient mechanism securing high mobility in the Siberian society. By the early 1700s, mobility level decreased, downward mobility increased, and social system became more sustainable.

Sport as a social phenomenon

The purpose of the paper is to develop a theoretical and methodological justification for the pedagogy of sport as an independent direction in the scientific study of general pedagogy. Methods include the analysis of the socio-cultural phenomenon of “sport (sport activity)” using the conceptual provisions of social philosophy, the sociology of labor and the socio-cultural concept of health formative education (Yu. V.Naumenko). Results. The socio-cultural difference of close (but not related) phenomena of “physical culture” and “sport (sports activity)” is substantiated in the paper. A new socio-cultural interpretation of the concepts of “sport (sports activity)”, “sports competitions” and “sports training” as manifestations of the universal human culture is proposed. The content of humanistic, creative and value-regulating functions of sports (sports activity) as a part of the universal culture is revealed. The author describes the person-oriented and the resource-pragmatic attitudes to sport (sports activity) and their manifestation in practice (in particular, in relation to children’s sports). It is proved that the socio-cultural phenomenon of “sport (sports activity)” is a manifestation of labor (professional) activity in the social and humanitarian sphere, which is both a subject to the general laws of labor activity and possesses specific features. The object and subject of studying the pedagogy of sports (sports activity) as an independent direction of general pedagogy are formulated. The research problem and theoretical and practical tasks of sports pedagogy (sports activity) are specified.

Writing about Workers, Reflecting on Dictatorship and Neoliberalism: Chilean Labor History and the Pinochet Dictatorship

AbstractThis article explores the trajectory of Chilean labor history and its recent efforts to study workers’ experiences under the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973–1990). Influenced by the impact of dictatorship on Chilean society as well as global historiographical debates, Labor Studies became an interdisciplinary and transnational field in Chile. This article focuses on the different academic traditions that have intersected with and contributed to the study of workers’ experiences under the dictatorship. It considers the multiple origins of New Labor Studies and includes the social history of both rural and urban movements, labor sociology, feminist historiography, and transnational history. It also looks at the multiple debates taking place in Chile and in other parts of the world. Bringing them together offers the opportunity to see the intersections, collaborations, and influences that have made the study of Chilean workers a dynamic field.

К ВОПРОСУ О ПРИЧИНАХ РАСПАДА АВСТРО-ВЕНГЕРСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ

We discuss one of the key problems of the modern history – the collapse of the dualistic Austro-Hungarian Empire. The dual monarchy, or Monarchy, lasted a little more than half a century, from 1867 to 1918, and disintegrated as a result of the sharp aggravation of interethnic contradictions and the military-political defeat of the Central Powers. The book of the contemporary of the historical drama, the Hungarian publicist, the left-liberal politician O. Jászi occupies a special place is in the rich Austro-Hungarianism. The author of this study was the scientific editor of the translation of O. Jászi’s book into Russian. We examine two innovative ideas in many ways pioneer of O. Jászi’s historical and sociological labor: a) the contradictory impact of economic forces (factor) on the close integration of multi-level regions of the Danube monarchy; b) as we show, relying on the research of O. Jászi, the psychological reason for the collapse of the polyethnic state was the cultural and mental incompatibility of Hungarians and Austrian Germans, as well as of other peoples of the Monarchy. We summarize that the economic backwardness of Hungary and the originality of the Hungarian national identity, different political culture were the deep disintegrational factors of the disappearance of one of the largest continental empires from the world political map.

Reframing the public sociology debate: Towards collaborative and decolonial praxis

This article presents a critical analysis of Michael Burawoy’s model of public sociology, discussing several of its epistemic and methodological limitations. First, the author focuses on the ambiguity of Burawoy’s proposal, problematizing the absence of a clear delimitation of the concept of ‘public sociology’. Second, the author links the academic success of the category of public sociology to the global division of sociological labour, emphasizing the ‘geopolitics of knowledge’ involved in Burawoy’s work and calling for the decolonization of social science. Then, the author expounds his concerns regarding the hierarchy of the different types of sociology proposed by Burawoy, who privileges professional sociology over other types of sociological praxis. Reflecting upon these elements will provide a good opportunity to observe how our discipline works, advancing also suggestions for its transformation. Along these lines, in the last section of the article the author elaborates on the need to go beyond a dissemination model of public sociology – the unidirectional diffusion of ‘expert knowledge’ to extra-academic audiences – and towards a more collaborative understanding of knowledge production.

Die Globalität unsicherer Arbeit als konzeptionelle Provokation

Since the 1970s, informal labor has spread from the Global South, where it was discovered, to the Global North. In spite of what modernization theory says, informal labor has not disappeared, but is, instead, increasing worldwide. It affects not only employment, but also labor processes. To tackle the resulting conceptual provocations we must explore transnational perspectives. An analysis of both interconnected and uneven development will help debunk the notion that insecure labor is a timeless “normality”. It is important to overcome labor sociology’s exclusive focus on a seemingly stable corporate microcosm and to question current debates on insecure labor that ignore the impact capital has had in its development.

Legacies of opportunity and economic integration: Path dependent labor force participation in Puerto Rico’s development

Using a large-scale sample of the working-age population drawn from U.S. decennial census microdata for Puerto Rico, this article evaluates whether theories of labor markets adequately explain labor force participation rates in developing countries that are highly integrated to more developed nations. Significant differences across labor cohorts in the likelihood of participation of men and women indicate that participation is conditioned by historical timing of entry into the work force. A two-equation model is used to estimate the exogenous effect of expected earnings. Cohort differences persist net of controls for education and earnings. This evidence suggests path-dependent participation rates associated to distinct stages of the economic development process, and is most consistent with institutionalist perspectives in the sociology of labor markets. Cohort participation-experience profiles are not consistent with the labor-leisure choice model or with the international division of labor theory.

The organizational and geographical boundaries of the firm

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the organizational and geographical (by nation-states) boundaries of the firm and their impact on labour and to develop a theoretical framework in which firms’ boundaries are analysed from the point of view of labour as a main stakeholder in the firm.Design/methodology/approachThe paper considers the boundaries in terms of: perspectives (legal/proprietary, responsibility and control); stakeholders (shareholders and managers as well as labour, governments and suppliers) and dimensions (organization of production, geographical/by nation-state and sectoral). The paper analyses various organizational forms of production in terms of control (over labour process and brand), responsibility for labour employed across the value chain and labour bargaining power. The firm is seen in the context of labour as main stakeholder and of strategic control versus the property rights view of the firm. The paper contains references to some real-life cases which support the arguments developed at the theoretical level.FindingsIn terms of organizational boundaries, the paper analyses hybrid forms of firm organization and their implications for the position of labour. In the context of geographical boundaries, conclusions are drawn on the impact of transnational corporations (TNCs)’ direct activities on labour. Changes in organizational and geographical boundaries are seen as strategic moves that lead to the fragmentation of labour and to the weakening of its bargaining position. There is an analysis of the role of nation-state regulatory regimes in creating opportunities for TNCs’ advantages towards labour. The basic pillars of this theoretical approach are emphasis on labour as a main stakeholder as well as one of the main actors towards whom firms develop strategies and who, in turn, develops countervailing strategies; and the assignation of responsibility for labour over that part of the value chain – which could be the whole of it – over which the firm exercises strategic control.Research limitations/implicationsMore case study work would further support the arguments in the paper and lead to refinements of the theory.Social implicationsFor labour, cross-country strategies are developed, and it is argued that the principal firm should take responsibility for the labour force on the basis of the “control” perspective rather than the “legal/proprietary” one. At the macro level, it could be argued for policies that lead to more homogeneous regulatory regimes across countries and in particular within the EU. There are implications for the strategies of trade unions within and across countries. There is also a call for overcoming academic disciplinary boundaries in research specifically those between economics, business strategy and sociology of labour and industrial relations.Originality/valueThe work puts labour at the forefront of analysis in the boundaries of the firm. It develops a theoretical framework for this analysis and for its policy implications including policies by trade unions.

Logistics labor: Insights from the sociologies of globalization, the economy, and work

AbstractThis article identifies the origins of the rise of the logistics industry to highlight the powerful structural position that this endows on the industry and its workers. I begin by analyzing an often‐neglected aspect of globalization by describing the logistics, or goods movement industry, and identifying the role that the “logistics revolution” plays within the contemporary capitalist system. Then, synthesizing insights from global, economic, and labor sociology, I argue that the structural “brokerage” position of logistics workers in the global economy offers them key advantages on which labor and political movements might capitalize in struggles for economic justice and worker rights. I examine empirical research regarding labor organizing within logistics to determine if workers leverage this powerful position into concrete gains. Finally, I argue that more attention needs to be paid to how logistics workers recognize, articulate, and utilize their potentially powerful position in globalization flows. Future research should endeavor to understand how this can be achieved among wide groups of logistics workers to achieve the most success in labor and political movements.

Foxconn: The Disruption of iSlavery

This paper connects the scholarship of labour sociology with studies of information and communication technologies (icts). It contends that, despite the wonders of social progress associated with digital technologies, the emergence of the digital electronics manufacturing industry in Asia has led to serious regressions in society. Among the worst of such digital disruptions is the challenge of Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer and one of the most notorious sweatshops in the history of industrial capitalism. Tragedies at Foxconn force us to reconsider industrialization and the role oficts so fundamentally that it requires us to revisit old regimes of slavery in order to fully understand these events. From a critical historical perspective, this paper examines disruptive moments in Foxconn while developing the idea of iSlavery and, in particular, manufacturing iSlaves, as a conceptual device to rethink the Foxconn suicides as emblematic of a disruptive and disrupted digital Asia.

Labor Unions as Activist Organizations: A Union Power Approach to Estimating Union Wage Effects

Amid the long decline of US unions, research on union wage effects has struggled with selection problems and inadequate theory. I draw on the sociology of labor to argue that unions use non-market sources of power to pressure companies into raising wages. This theory of union power implies a new test of union wage effects: does union activism have an effect on wages that is not reducible to workers' market position? Two institutional determinants of union activity are used to empirically isolate the wage effect of union activism from labor market conditions: increased union revenue from investment shocks and increased union activity leading up to union officer elections. Instrumental variable analysis of panel data from the Department of Labor shows that a 1 percent increase in union spending increases a proxy for union members' wages between 0.15 percent and 0.30 percent. These wage effects are larger in years of active collective bargaining, and when unions increase spending in ways that could pressure companies. The results indicate that non-market sources of union power can affect workers' wages and that even in a period of labor weakness unions still play a role in setting wages for their members.

Pratiques d’emploi et figures du patron en agriculture biologique. Contribution à une sociologie du travail indépendant

Cet article etudie les pratiques d’emploi a l’œuvre sur les exploitations agricoles en production biologique ; il s’appuie sur une enquete ethnographique menee aupres d’un groupe localise d’agriculteurs. Partant d’une approche centree sur la structure de la main-d’œuvre et le statut des travailleurs dans un secteur agricole — le maraichage — ou ces questions sont particulierement sensibles, on s’attachera a montrer et a expliquer la diversite des manieres d’etre employeur en agriculture biologique. Tout en revelant la force avec laquelle les positions et les trajectoires sociales structurent les pratiques d’emploi, l’analyse montre comment des socialisations professionnelles et des contraintes economiques contribuent a modeler les representations et les pratiques de ces travailleurs independants, a moderer l’usage de statuts precaires, ou au contraire a favoriser le recours au travail non declare. Alors que le discours collectif du mouvement « bio », desormais relaye par les pouvoirs publics, valorise volontiers l’argument du « vivier d’emplois » que constitue ce secteur, l’enquete revele ce qui se joue reellement, en termes de conditions d’emploi, sur les exploitations en agriculture biologique. Elle montre aussi comment les agriculteurs s’y prennent pour neutraliser les tensions ethiques que generent (parfois) leurs pratiques.

Sociologia da educação, reprodução das desigualdades e novas formas de dominação

Resumo Jean-Pierre Faguer tem se dedicado à análise dos processos de reprodução e reprodução das desigualdades sociais e já foi professor convidado no Brasil em diferentes ocasiões. Nesta entrevista, o autor, que foi colaborador de Pierre Bourdieu no Centre de Sociologie Européenne, discute sua trajetória como pesquisador, o processo de constituição de seus objetos de pesquisa e alguns resultados de suas investigações, bem como apresenta suas reflexões sobre como a sociologia da educação contribui para o adensamento dos estudos da sociologia do trabalho e da sociologia econômica.

Reconstruction and restoration: the legacies of post-war German Industrial Sociology

The article reconstructs the re-birth of Industrial Sociology in Germany after the Second World War in a comparative perspective. Although sharing the main context conditions and maintaining a constant and fluent exchange with their colleagues in other countries, the German intellectual traditions and specific institutional context motivated several particular interests and perspectives that shape a distinct German Industrial Sociology until today. The dominance of qualitative in-depth research, the focus on the emancipative potentials in high-skill-based work organization, the cooperative industrial relations tradition and the constant attempts to link employment studies with general social theory on modern capitalist society and social change characterize German Industrial Sociology. The richness of distinct national institutional settings for comparative social research on employment regimes may be another lesson to be learned from critical reconstruction of labour sociology.

Toward an Evolutionary Theory of Human Capital

The structure and dynamics of knowledge is central to modern evolutionary economics. In the canonical evolutionary model, knowledge exists in the routines and competencies of firms, an approach optimized to study industrial dynamics. In mainstream economics however, knowledge is represented as human capital, an investment by workers in education and skills, an approach suited to the study of labour markets, education, jobs and careers. Evolutionary economics has little to say about this. We propose a new research program for evolutionary economics that develops an evolutionary theory of human capital by representing human capital as a position on a network of knowledge and economic evolution as change in that network. Our new approach connects with the economic sociology of labour markets as networks; models the evolution of jobs as the dynamic structure of that network, and models a career as a path through that network; and furnishes a new theory of structural unemployment.