Precarization and Labor Resistance: Canada, the USA, India and China

Abstract

Precarization, in its form and consequences, varies across workers, sectors and geographies. The five articles in this special issue examine ways that workers have struggled with and against precarious labor in different contexts, from low-wage retail and service workers in Canada and the USA, to manufacturing and construction workers in India and China. In particular, they show that the role of the state has been crucial in shaping the terrain of struggle at the workplace and in the wider community. They argue that against all odds protesting workers have repeatedly exercised some power to influence employer and government policies.

The Precarious Concept of Precarity

“…This is evidently the case with the sociological approaches of Kalleberg or Standing, but so too with autonomist conceptions, which emphasize the breakdown of Fordist relations and often appeal to contemporary employment to furnish examples of precarity. Indeed, much of the most interesting recent literature on precarity has emerged within the sociology of work (Alberti et al, 2018; Chan, Nair, and Rhomberg 2019).…”

State and labor in China, 1978-2018

“…The proliferation of “flexible employment” has adversely impacted not only those subcontract workers. Regular workers would also encounter greater difficulty in making collective demands on employers as they now must compete with contingent laborers in the fissured workplace (Chan, Nair, & Rhomberg, ; Lee, ).…”

Perception of state policy in the sphere of youth employment in the context of graduates’ precarization

“…Место выпускников вузов в структуре прекариата При рассмотрении концепции прекариата часто объектом критики становится слишком широкая трактовка данного явления, предложенная Стэндингом [7][8][9][10][11]. Пользуясь его определением, в состав прекариата входят как высокооплачиваемые специалисты или самозанятые -фрилансеры, сознательно меняющие сферу и вид деятельности [5, pp.…”