Transnational labor regulation, reification, and commodification: A critical review

Abstract

Why does scholarship on transnational labor regulation (TLR) consistently fail to search for improvements in working conditions, and instead devotes itself to relentless efforts for identifying administrative processes, semantics, and amalgamations of stakeholders? This article critiques TLR from a pro‐worker perspective, through the philosophical work of Georg Lukács, and the concepts of reification and commodification. A set of theoretically grounded criteria is developed and these are applied against selected contemporary cases of TLR. In the totality that is capitalism, reification of social relations of production conceals completely the experiences of workers. In TLR, managerialist and process‐oriented scholarship is dominant, verifiable outcomes and positive improvements in conditions of employment are not sought, and worse, meaningless procedures are celebrated as positive achievements.

The Dilemma of Postmodern Business Ethics: Employee Reification in a Perspective of Preserving Human Dignity

“…Involvement of stakeholder interests can strengthen enterprise’s moral commitments (e.g., Wes, 2009 ), thereby reducing the risks posed by moral relativism, but in this case, we cannot underestimate the problem posed by different teachings dictated by cultural diversity, which can be solved based on the internationally recognized human rights doctrine ( Byrne, 2014 ). In this context, Tsogas (2018) is convinced that proper evaluation of Lukács’ reification theory can revise the approach to better international regulation of labor relations, which so far has not achieved positive results.…”

“…According to Tsogas (2018) , p. 521, Lukács applies the principle of Kant’s philosophy, that is, “we can understand the things that we make, the ideas that we have, and the forms that we impose on reality.” In this case, only the proletariat can understand the reality of work, and when it understands that people are being turned into a commodity, it will rebel. Lukács associated awareness of the proletariat not only with resistance but also with a correct understanding of ethics.…”

Commodification of Workers in Tempo Magazine

“…In capitalist systems, humans are often seen as resources or labor that can be used to generate profits. In this context, a person's value is placed more on how much they can contribute or benefit production and the economy rather than respecting their human aspects (Tsogas, 2018). According to Mosco, previously, workers had specific craft skills or expertise that enabled them to control or contribute significantly to the work process.…”