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This article examines the labor control processes being implemented in Italy's recently developed temporary help industry.The social science literature generally predicts that voluntary forms of labor control require genuine compromises between management and its workforce. Based on interviews, observational fieldwork, and analysis of industry documents, the authors compare this expectation against the details of the Italian case. Overall, they find that management is attempting to build consensus not by granting temporary workers meaningful concessions, as the literature would generally suggest, but rather by reframing temporary work as a viable opportunity for upward social mobility, and reinforcing these ideological messages with coercion when needed.These findings suggest that ideological power may play a larger role in the labor control process than previously recognized, and that Gramsci's theory of ideological hegemony deserves greater attention from scholars studying such matters. KEY WORDSGramsci / hegemony / labor control / temporary help industry

This study assesses whether recent changes in family structure and female employment patterns have altered the distribution of income in some countries. Extant literature on this topic reaches inconsistent conclusions and overwhelmingly focuses on the United States. To address these shortcomings, the author draws on internationally comparable data for 16 Western countries to assess whether these social changes have distributional consequences. Specifically, the hypothesis is that increased female employment reduces income inequality, but that increased prevalence of single-mother families heightens income inequality. Results from two-way random effects regression models provide considerable support for this hypothesis. These effects are robust after controlling for variations in labour market institutions, social welfare provisions, and relevant social and economic structures. Limited evidence also suggests that educational homogamy between spouses and partners explains some of the differences in income inequality among countries. The study ends by discussing some of the implications of these findings.

Is financialization contributing to the slow decline of union density that is occurring across most advanced capitalist countries? Combining insights from literatures on financialization, corporate governance, and comparative political economy, we argue that the growing dominance of finance within advanced capitalism weakens unions through several channels, and plays an important but underappreciated role in the deunionization of national workforces. Using data from 18 advanced capitalist countries over several decades, this assertion is tested against the literature’s existing explanations for declining union density. Results from panel regression models suggest that financialization is an important cause of union decline, but that its particular effects vary between different types of advanced capitalism. The study concludes by arguing that financialization creates new interconnections between firms and finance capital, resulting in business practices that ultimately put downward pressure on union densities across advanced capitalist countries.

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