[P2P-F] Fwd: [Networkedlabour] Special Issue, in Portuguese, on Work, Precarity and Social Uprisings

Wed Jun 25 23:57:38 CEST 2014

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From: peter waterman <peterwaterman1936 at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 10:56 AM
Subject: [Networkedlabour] Special Issue, in Portuguese, on Work, Precarity
and Social Uprisings
To: networkedlabour at lists.contrast.org, Anne Alexander <raa43 at cam.ac.uk>,
CRITICAL-LABOUR-STUDIES at jiscmail.ac.uk, Debate is a listserve that attempts
to promote information and analyses of interest to the independent left in
South and Southern Africa <debate-list at fahamu.org>, Dan Gallin <
gli at iprolink.ch>, Ronaldo Munck <ronnie.munck at dcu.ie>

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

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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
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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-movements
.

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) .
hermes at fe.uc.pt
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

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