The double indeterminacy of labour power

Smith, Chris

doi:10.1177/0950017006065109

Cited by 168 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Briefly put, 'mobility power' refers to the ability of labor to move between employers or leave the labor market (below). Labor can use its mobility power to pressure for better conditions by both threatened and actual exit from the workplace (Smith 2006). The article thus contributes to the political economy of labor relations approach.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Drawing on labor process theory, Smith (2006) introduces the concept of 'mobility power' in relation to the struggle between capital and labor and the double indeterminacy (uncertainties) of labor as willful agents. Within the capitalist system, employers strive for higher surplus values and higher and newer forms of work intensification.…”

Section: Mobility Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Labor power is seen as consisting of two elements: power over work efforts, and power to move between firms (mobility power). These are the sources of work-effort indeterminacy and mobility-effort indeterminacy (Smith 2006). In its role of employer in the public sector, the state represents capital.…”

Section: Mobility Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health Institutions, Temporary Work Agencies, and the Mobility Power of Nurses

Knutsen

2019

NJWLS

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The objective of this article is to explore how the mobility power of nurses (the ability to move between employers or leave the labor market) contributes to changing relations between health institutions and temporary work agencies in the Norwegian welfare state. Based on case study as the research strategy, the article contributes to the political economy of labor relations approach and the debate over the role of TWAs and temporary nursing in the health sector. The mobility power of Swedish nurses who shift from agency nursing to direct temporary nursing in health institutions (bank nursing) partly explains the constrained growth of agency nursing in the Norwegian hospital sector. However, contracting flows of Swedish nurses to Norway since 2015 challenge internal labor hire and could make health institutions more agency-dependent in future. The data employed are semi-structured interviews, official statistics, reports, and news clippings. KEYWORDS Mobility power / Norway / nursing / personnel pools / temporary work agencies

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Mobility Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health Institutions, Temporary Work Agencies, and the Mobility Power of Nurses

Knutsen

2019

NJWLS

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“…The way in which this occurs primarily, it is argued, is through coordinated (but informal) market-based attempts (Ouchi, 1980) to remove the 'double indeterminacy of labour' (Smith, 2006). That is to say, while TNCs can do little to rekindle erstwhile advantages associated with locating in the region, they can still have a degree of control over labour.…”

Section: Inter-organizational Relations and Powermentioning

confidence: 98%

Inter-organizational power and work relations in a regional ICT cluster

Parkin

2016

Regional Studies, Regional Science

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INTRODUCTIONThe point of departure for this article is Martin and Sunley's (2003) criticism of the cluster concept, which they dismiss as an intellectual 'brand' rather than a concept proper. While, on the one hand, I am receptive to their criticisms, I fully recognize the generality of the notion, in addition to its implication as a managerial/policy-making 'fashion' (Abrahamson, 1996). I am unsympathetic, on the other, because their criticisms have somewhat overshadowed its value for studying organizations, work and employment in particular places.Clusters (just like traditional industrial districts) are economic and geographical 'sites' where the co-location of interconnected work organizations conditions 'the nature and basic structure' of work and employment opportunities, interactions and relations (Schatzki, 2005, p. 265). Furthermore -because the experience of working life is (at least) partly shaped by 'the context in which it transpires' (Schatzki, 2005, p. 267) -the actions of organizations and individuals in clusters are inseparable responses to it as an ongoing state of affairs, it is argued (Schatzki, 1991).A key methodological application of clusters, then, is that they allow researchers to address what is perhaps an essential question to do with the regional scale, namely: how is work experienced differently in various economic/industrial agglomerations? However, this has partly been addressed ABSTRACT the cluster concept has attracted numerous criticisms over the years. Yet, it arguably retains significant value as a lens for studying organizations, work and employment in particular places. conceptualizing regions, for example, as inter-organizational 'sites' allows for the experience of working life to be analyzed more fully in relation to labour's position within contextually based employment relationships. this article applies such a notion to evaluate the link between inter-organizational arrangements of power, local labour market dynamics, and work and employment relations in the thames Valley (uK) information and communication technologies (ict) cluster; on which basis it is concluded that the cluster facilitates a 'strategically rational' form of domination over workers. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…An underlying concern is the impact it may have on the employer if a large number of employees act similarly. Smith (2006) addresses how work-effort bargaining, with acts such as reduction of work effort, and mobility-effort bargaining affect the labour process and are met by the employers. Mobility-effort bargaining is predominantly individual, but could also be work-group based, and entails acts such as withdrawal, threatened exit, increased job search and active networking for new jobs.…”

Section: Conceptualising Agency By Exitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agency by exit: Swedish nurses and the “Not below 24,000” movement

Kiil

Knutsen

2016

Geoforum

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a b s t r a c t Hirschman's (1970) concepts of exit, voice and loyalty can be reworked to add further nuances to the understanding of labour agency. Agency by exit is of interest in demonstrating how agency is conditioned by structures and context that constrain and enable successful action. It may start as individual acts of coping and then enable and empower more collective actions of reworking and resistance. Agency by exit thereby expands our understanding of what strategies of coping, reworking and resistance entail. We base our arguments on a case study of the ''Not below 24,000" movement among nurse students and newly graduated nurses for acceptable entry wages in Sweden. The movement has succeeded in raising the entry wage for a number of newly graduated nurses by turning individual and collective agency by exit into structural power. While the movement has managed to shake power relations, it has not fully changed the rules of the game.

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The double indeterminacy of labour power

Cited by 168 publications

References 21 publications

Health Institutions, Temporary Work Agencies, and the Mobility Power of Nurses

Health Institutions, Temporary Work Agencies, and the Mobility Power of Nurses

Inter-organizational power and work relations in a regional ICT cluster

Agency by exit: Swedish nurses and the “Not below 24,000” movement

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