---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: peter waterman <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 10:56 AM Subject: [Networkedlabour] Special Issue, in Portuguese, on Work, Precarity and Social Uprisings To: [email protected], Anne Alexander <[email protected]>, [email protected], Debate is a listserve that attempts to promote information and analyses of interest to the independent left in South and Southern Africa <[email protected]>, Dan Gallin < [email protected]>, Ronaldo Munck <[email protected]> This is the Google Translation of the Editorial Introduction to the Revista Critica de Ciencias Sociais, Portugal, No. 103. The whole issue, in Portuguese, with Abstracts in English and French, is available online: http://rccs.revues.org/5516?lang=en. The GTrans is uncorrected, so readers should not be surprised that the name 'Estanque' is translated as 'Waterproof'. Now read on... Critical Review of Social Sciences en en fr es Home> Issues> 103> Introduction> Working, precariousness and rebeliõe ... Contents 103 | 2014: Labour precarity and social rebellions Introduction Work, precariousness and social rebellions Elysium Waterproof and Hermes Augusto Costa p. 3-8 Text | Bibliography | References | About the authors Full text PDF 566k Send by e-mail 1 as is known, the project of Western modernity became, from its beginnings, the close relationship between wage labor and the broader social system. Over the course of nearly three centuries the major historical transformations and civilizational achievements left the world of work, so that the progress made in the economy, institutions and building the rule of law as their main foundation and transformative forces based social relations in production conflict and the capital / labor. You must remember all this historical legacy to develop an updated and critical approach to the world of work, identifying its contradictions, old and new, featuring current contours that are emerging in the world of work, pointing out the advances and setbacks in terms of rights and with all that, trying to understand the latest trends that are occurring in this relationship - which remains tense and contradictory - between economy and society, between the sphere of labor and social and socio-political system as a whole. 2e precisely in the light of these concerns that the present volume of the Journal of Critical Social Science intends to launch a sociological look at the current landscape of labor relations and the latest cycle of social movements in the global context, with special attention to the case of Portugal and the region Mediterranean on one side, and the case of Brazil, on the other hand, trying to analyze the connections between social cohesion and fragmentation of labor relations. The most recent processes of flexibility and precariousness of working conditions, particularly in Europe, are interpreted as factors that boosted the trigger social unrest and rebellions, but these, in general, transcend the specific sphere of the world of work. The texts collected in this issue bear witness to several outbreaks of tight labor markets show theoretically and empirically and precarious forms of labor conflicts and make room for the understanding of social rebellion as broader social reaction strategy. 3In the first place, it is to recall some of the opposing arguments regarding the place / the centrality of labor in society, who have been on the agenda over the last decade (Toni, 2003; Costa, 2008; Waterproof and Costa, 2012a; 2012b). In previous work online, we believe that the analysis that were precipitated defended the thesis of the "end of work" or even diagnose the general fragmentation of wage society in a "no class of non-workers / the" (André Gorz); this, despite recognizing the minor work in defining the structure of individual identity and their increasing difficulty in securing social bonds (Claus Offe, Jeremy Rifkin, Ulrich Beck, Dominique Méda, Richard Sennett). It is true that the work has become an increasingly scarce as well, but it not only did not withdraw his importance, as highlighted by its role as an affirmation of the dignity of the worker and human rights factor. Even considering the potentialities of the informational society (Manuel Castells), it is necessary to emphasize, in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO), that "labor is not a commodity" and that there is no alternative to the civilization of the work, although forms prove increasingly unstable and multifaceted. But as several scholars have called attention, the work remains central to the social struggles and the current political struggle. We must therefore rediscover and reinforce its role as cement of society, ie, as a decisive space in defense of social cohesion and citizenship, revitalizing the mechanisms of dialogue and consensus through a new social contract that consolidates democracy (Castel, 1998; Santos, 1998; Waterproof and Costa, 2013). 4But the idea of precariousness is strongly rooted both in speech and in academic studies, both in the experience of activists concrete practices of participants in the labor market. Therefore, it is an unquestionable fact that wage labor became the scene of negative individualism and insecurity and that is losing consistency, stability and even dignity. Throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century new ways of working have become increasingly more routes precarizante sense, both in Portugal and in Europe and on a global scale: green receipts (or rather fake green receipts), contracts term, temporary work, part time work, subcontracting, informal economy are just some of the new modalities of work morphologies (Antunes, 2013) that, often, flow into the phenomenon of unemployment. Of course systems (working conditions, labor legislation, collective bargaining, etc..) Labor relations are not uniform among the countries of the European Union (EU), but in many countries are identifiable trends of degradation that affect with greater intensity the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly young people and women segments. For example, in the field of labor income, the cuts between / the staff / the public / the the most fragile economies (Greece, Ireland and Portugal are some of the examples referred to within the EU), associated with a whole package liberalization measures and "adjustment" for the benefit of capital (and against labor) constitute a huge setback in the field of labor and social rights (Sealed and Costa, 2012a, 2012b; Costa, 2012), intensifying the transfer of income from labor to capital (Leite et al., 2013). 5In face these forms of degradation of wage labor, social contestation manifests itself today in a variety of forms of collective action present in different geographic quadrants. In the European context, it is almost an inevitability associate collective protest against austerity policies that have produced destabilizing impacts on labor markets and strengthened asymmetries in labor relations, increasing insecurity and dependence on those who work (and who can not get a job) . But also in the context of North Africa (eg Egypt) and Latin America (particularly Brazil) true centers of social rebellion emerged, calling for social rights, freedom, transparency in institutions and more authenticity in political and social democracy. In all these frameworks are facing a cycle of global protests which eventually highlighted a "return to materialism" (Sealed, Soeiro and Costa, 2013), whether we look to the high unemployment figures for cuts in wages and social benefits, to the weakening of the social functions of the state, to increase the "precariat" or threats to the middle class (emerging or declining). 6E, rightly, about the precariat which address the two contributions that open this special issue. On the one hand, Guy Standing, after a classification and characterization of precariat as "class construction," argues that it incorporates a real transformative potential, which implies a struggle for redistribution of access to basic goods or assets to a "good life "based on a socio-economic security, control weather, on the use of quality spaces, knowledge (or instruction) society, namely financial and financial capital. On the other hand, considers the Ruy Braga precariat as synonymous with precarious proletariat, which incorporates the fraction of the working class or disqualified semiqualificada and subjected to high rates of employee turnover. Specifically, analyzes the formation of post-Fordist precariat in the call center industry in Brazil (by the way the industry has created more formal jobs in 2000), giving an account of the relationship between automobilization workers, union action and federal public policy 7Num Secondly, the texts of Elysium Waterproof, Iside Gjergji and Roberto Véras accentuate the social rebellion associated with the world of work component. Elysium Waterproof, first, discusses the relationship between precariousness and social movements in Portugal and in Brazil in the period between 2011 and 2013, elucidating trends, similarities and contrasts between these two realities. In essayistic registration, it is argued that on the basis of these movements prevails "radicalism" or "drive" middle class. It discusses and clarifies the concept of "middle class" - which is here conceived under a new perspective - and point up the internal segmentation of this category and the potential of emerging segments in the current status quo in the complaint or dispute of programs Austerity coming barring the expectations and ambitions of emerging layers of an educated youth as clear ties to the middle class. 8Por Moreover, Iside Gjergji seeks to highlight the role of labor protests nature (or, if you will, the socio-economic roots of the Egyptian uprising of 2011), which is usually secundarizado by the scholars of the "Arab Spring", which tend to designate the Egyptian revolution as a revolution-Facebook, I mean, one instigated sociopolitical phenomenon (especially through social networks) essentially middle class youth with a high level of education. It is argued, however, that at the heart of the Egyptian uprising are socio-economic factors, and it is therefore crucial to identify some key steps to consider that the growing Egyptian labor movement is a Primatial element of long-term revolutionary process. Still further, Véras Roberto de Oliveira, with reference to the Brazilian context, analyzes the conflicts and negotiations on workers, unions, employers, government, Justice, Ministry of Labor, among other actors, established during the construction of Hydroelectric Power Plants Jirau and Santo Antônio, situated in the north. By identifying the positions of these actors, proposes a set of reflections on the possibilities and limits of union activity. 9A close this thematic issue, the final two contributions associate the idea of protest against austerity policies, a very present reality in the European context. On the one hand, Maria da Paz Campos Lima and Antonio Martin Artiles begin by providing a framework of literature on new social movements versus approaches on labor relations and unionism or identifying their (dis) encounters and their different logics, whether calling attention to the creation of conditions (under the European protest cycles) for a link between materialistic concerns and metapolíticas claims. Alongside this macro-sociological analysis focused on collective action, the authors examine in micro level, the individual participation in the protests, based on the European Social Survey 2012. Doing so, highlight trends, profiles, motivations and factors explaining this individual participation, so aferirem to what extent there is a parallel with the conditions and motivations associated with forms of collective action. Moreover, Hermes Augusto Costa, Hugo Dias and José Soeiro analyze the phenomenon of strike in the context of austerity. Apart from offering sociological perspectives on strike, related to the notions of democracy and sociojurídica regulation, with (s) ideology (s) and tensions between individual and collective action, and controversy with scales or with temporalities and results indicate the quantitative expression of strikes in Portugal. The case study analyzing portrays a bold strike in the context of austerity reinforced in a particular sector and precarious - Health workers Line 24 - which allows them to assess both the challenges facing the union action, whether new forms of organization of social conflict. Top of page Bibliography Antunes, Ricardo (2013), The meanings of work: essay on the affirmation and negation of the work. Coimbra: Almedina / CES. Castel, Robert (1998), The metamorphosis of the social question. Petropolis: Publisher Voices. Costa, Hermes Augusto (2008), Global Unionism metaphor or postponed? Discourses and practices of transnational CGTP and CUT. Port: Afrontamento. Costa, Hermes Augusto (2012), "From Europe as a Model to Europe's Austerity: The impact of the crisis on English trade unions', Transfer - European Review of Labour and Research, 18 (4), 397-410. Watertight, Elysium; Costa, Hermes Augusto (2012a), "Labour Relations and Social Movements," in Denis Erasga (ed.), Sociological Landscapes: Theories, Realities and Trends (ISBN 978-953-51-0460-5). Rijeka / Croatia: INTECH / Open Access Publishing, 257-282. Available in http://www.intechopen.com/articles/show/title/labour-relations-and-social-mo... . Watertight, Elysium; Costa, Hermes Augusto (2012b), "Work, insecurity and socio-labor movements' in SF Jacket (ed.), Industrial Change and gender relations: new vectors of (in) equality. Lisbon / Coimbra: Almedina, 165-203. Watertight, Elysium; Costa, Hermes Augusto (2013), "The European trade unionism in the center of the volcano: challenges and threats," Janus-Yearbook of Foreign Affairs, 16, 176-177. Watertight, Elysium; Costa, Hermes Augusto; Soeiro, Joseph (2013), "The New Global Cycle of Protest and the Portuguese Case," Journal of Social Science Education, 12 (1), 31-40. Leite, Jorge; Costa, Hermes Augusto; Silva, Manuel Carvalho da; Almeida, João Ramos (2013), "Austerity, labor market reform and devaluation of work," Observatory on in Crisis and Alternatives (ed.), The anatomy of the crisis: (. 1st report / preliminary) identify problems for alternatives. Coimbra / Lisbon: Observatory on Crisis and Alternatives, 108-160. Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (1998), Reinventing Democracy. Lisbon: Gradiva. Toni, of Miriam (2003), "Visions of the work in transformation", Sociologias, 9, 246-286. Top of page References Bibliographical reference Elysium Waterproof and Hermes Augusto Costa, 'Work, precariousness and social rebellions', Journal of Critical Social Science, 103 | 2014, 3-8. Electronic reference Elysium Waterproof and Hermes Augusto Costa, 'Work, precariousness and social rebellions', Journal of Critical Social Science [Online], 103 | 2014, Online since 26 May 2014, connection on 25 June 2014 URL: http://rccs.revues. .org/5519 Top of page About the authors Elysium Waterproof Sociologist, professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra (FEUC) and researcher at the Centre for Social Studies since 1985. Was a visiting professor at the State University of Campinas, Brazil, during the year 2013. Cocoordenador is the PhD Program in "Relationship Work, Social Inequalities and Trade Unionism "underway in FEUC and the Centre for Social Studies (CES). His latest book is the essay The Middle Class. Rise and Decline (Lisbon: Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, 2012). elisio.estanque @ gmail.com By this author Rebellions middle class? Precariousness and social movements in Portugal and in Brazil (2011-2013) [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Science, 103 | 2014 Transformations into employment and new challenges of unionism Portuguese [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 62 | 2002 Memory and timeliness of student movements [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 81 | 2008 Young people, students and 'repúblicos': Student Culture and associative crisis in Coimbra [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 81 | 2008 Title of websites: Stoa - USP Occupation - Occupation Greve 2007 and the Regents of the University of São Paulo [Full text] URLs: http://stoa.usp.br/ocupacaousp/weblog and http://ocupacaousp.noblogs.org Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 81 | 2008 Work, social inequality and unionism [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 71 | 2005 All documents Hermes Augusto Costa Sociologist. Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra. Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies. Cocoordenador the PhD Program in "Labour Relations, Social Inequalities and Trade Unionism" (CES / FEUC). Recent books: The Portuguese trade unionism and the new social question: crisis or renewal? (Co-organized with E. Watertight; Coimbra: Almedina / ESC, 2011), European Works Councils: a study of metallurgical, chemical and financial sectors in Portugal (co-authored with Paula R. Costa; Coimbra: Coimbra University Press, 2014) . [email protected] By this author The strikes and austerity in Portugal: looks, expressions and rearrangements [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Science, 103 | 2014 Flexicurity in Portugal: challenges and dilemmas of its application [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 86 | 2009 Lopes, Ana (2006), Sex workers unite! Labor organization in the sex industry. [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 80 | 2008 Information and consultation in multinational companies: The experience of Portuguese representatives in European Works Councils [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 79 | 2007 Munck, Ronaldo (ed.), Labour and Globalisation: Results and Prospects [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 73 | 2005 International politics CGTP and CUT: Steps, issues and challenges [Full text] Published in Journal of Critical Social Sciences, 71 | 2005 All documents Top of page Copyright © CES -- 1. *EBook, November 2012: Recovering Internationalism <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/recovering_internationalism/>. [A compilation of papers from the new millenium. Now free in two download formats] <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/> <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/>* 2. *EBook (co-editor), February 2013: World Social Forum: Critical Explorations http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/ <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/world_social_forum/> * 3. *Interface Journal Special (co-editor), November 2012: For the Global Emancipation of Labour <http://www.interfacejournal.net/current/>* 4. *Blog: http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman. <http://www.unionbook.org/profile/peterwaterman.> * 5. *Interface Journal Special (Co-Editor) Social Movement Internationalisms. See Call for Papers <http://www.interfacejournal.net/>, (Deadline: May 1, 2014). * 6. *Needed: a Global Labour Charter Movement (2005-Now!) <http://interfacejournal.nuim.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Interface-1-2-pp255-262-Waterman.pdf>* 7. *Under, Against, Beyond: Labour and Social Movements Confront a Globalised, Informatised Capitalism <http://www.into-ebooks.com/book/under-against-beyond/>(2011) Almost 1,000 pages of Working Papers, free, from the 1980 <1980>'s-90's.* 8. *Google Scholar Citation Index:* *http://scholar.google.com.pe/citations?user=e0e6Qa4AAAAJ <http://scholar.google.com.pe/citations?user=e0e6Qa4AAAAJ> * - _______________________________________________ NetworkedLabour mailing list [email protected] http://lists.contrast.org/mailman/listinfo/networkedlabour -- *Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..* P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/