What Will We Do? The Destruction of Occupational Identities in the ‘Knowledge-Based Economy’.
The writer explores how the concept of the reserve army of unemployed is still a relevant concept that helps explain many recent developments in labor markets. The role of a reserve army is not to take over all the jobs but to act as a disciplinary force who are available to do the same work more c...
| Publicado en: | Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine Vol. 57; no. 8; pp. 19 - 35 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Monthly Review Foundation
January 2006
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | The writer explores how the concept of the reserve army of unemployed is still a relevant concept that helps explain many recent developments in labor markets. The role of a reserve army is not to take over all the jobs but to act as a disciplinary force who are available to do the same work more cheaply or more compliantly. The presence of this reserve army creates a potent disincentive to ask for improvements in wages and conditions or to refuse to take on extra tasks. The writer examines the role played by occupational identities and skill in the functioning of labor markets, investigates the role played by the state in providing generic skills to a workforce that is expected to fill niches in an increasingly complex and turbulent economy, and considers the role that these generic skills play in eroding occupational boundaries and undermining the power of organized labor. |
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