Globalization, Rising Uncertainty and Life Courses in Modern Societies: A Summary of Research Findings and Open Research Questions

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Author/s Hans-Peter Blossfeld, Dirk Hofäcker
Publishing Year 2014 Issue 2014/136 Language Italian
Pages 18 P. 16-33 File size 173 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2014-136002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

This article investigates how globalization has impacted on labour market inequalities in modern, OECD-type societies. To this end, it collates findings from three cross-nationally comparative research projects that had all focused on the consequences of globalization and flexibilization for individual life courses (Globalife; TransEurope, flexcareer). Results indicate that there is a clear increase of labor market risks in the globalization process. However, this increase of risks has been not distributed equally among social groups, but has reinforced existing inequalities between as well as within birth cohorts. Particularly youth and women disproportionately find themselves ‘at the margins’ of globalized labour markets. Furthermore, globalization has impacted social classes and social inequality very differently, with most detrimental effects for those with low occupational class and little educational attainment. Despite the universality of these trends across countries, it can be shown that emerging inequalities are significantly ‘filtered’ by nation-specific institutions such as welfare systems and national labour markets. The article ends with a consideration of most recent trends in life course transitions and identifies open questions for further research.

Keywords: Globalization, life course, institutional filters, social inequality, crossnational comparison, youth

  1. Blossfeld H.-P., Hofmeister H. (2006). Globalization, Uncertainty and Women’s Careers in International Comparison. Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA/USA: Edward Elgar.
  2. Beck U. (1992). Risk Society. London: Sage.
  3. Beck U. (2000). What is Globalization? In: Held D., McGrew A., eds., The Global Transformations Reader. An Introduction to the Globalization Debate. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 99-103.
  4. Blossfeld H.-P. (2003). Globalization, social inequality and the role of countryspecific institutions. In: Conceicao P., Heitor M.V., Lundvall B.-A., eds., Innovation, competence building and social cohesion in Europe. Towards a learning society. Cheltenham/UK and Northampton, MA/USA: Edward Elgar, pp. 303-324.
  5. Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S. Bukodi E., Kurz K. (2008). Young Workers, Globalization and the Labor Market. Comparing Early Working Life in Eleven Countries. Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
  6. Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D. (2009). Life Course Inequalities in the Globalization Process. In: Maksim H., Ohnmacht T., Bergmann M., eds., Mobilities and Inequality. Aldershot: Ashgate, pp. 51-73.
  7. Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D. (2006). Globalization, Uncertainty and Late Careers in Society. London and New York: Routledge.
  8. Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D., Kolb K. (2011). Globalized Labour Markets and Social Inequality in Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  9. Blossfeld H.-P., Mills M., Bernardi F. (2006). Globalization, Uncertainty and Men’s Careers in International Comparison. Cheltenham, UK & Northampton, MA/USA: Edward Elgar.
  10. Blossfeld H.-P., Mills M. Klijzing E., Kurz K. (2005). Globalization, Uncertainty and Youth in Society. London & New York: Routledge.
  11. Bongaarts J., Sobotka T. (2012). A demographic explanation for the recent rise in European fertility. Population and Development Review, 38, 1: 83-120.
  12. Breen R. (1997). Risk, Recommodification and the Future of the Service Class. Sociology, 31, 3: 473-489.
  13. Buchholz S. (2006). Men’s late careers and career exits in West Germany. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D., eds. Globalization, Uncertainty and Late Careers in Society. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 55-78.
  14. Buchholz S., Hofäcker D., Mills M., Blossfeld H.-P., Kurz K., Hofmeister H. (2009). Life Courses in the Globalization Process: The Development of Social Inequalities in Modern Societies. European Sociological Review, 25, 1: 53-71.
  15. Bygren M., Duvander A.-Z., Hultin M. (2005). Elements of uncertainty in life courses. Transitions to adulthood in Sweden. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Mills M., Kli jzing E., Kurz K., eds., Globalization, Uncertainty and Youth in Society. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 135-158.
  16. Dreher A., Gaston N., Martens P. (2008). Measuring Globalisation – Gauging its consequences. New York: Springer.
  17. Ebbinghaus B., Hofäcker D. (2013). Reversing Early Retirement in Advanced Welfare Economies: A Paradigm Shift to Overcome Push and Pull Factors. Comparative Population Studies, 38, 4: 807-840.
  18. Ebralidze E. (2011). Labour Market and Perceived Job Insecurities in the Early Career – Do Danish Employees Worry Less? In: Blossfeld H.-P., Hofäcker D.,
  19. Bertolini S., eds., Youth on globalised labour markets: rising uncertainty and its effects on early employment and family lives in Europe. Opladen: Barbara Budrich, pp. 93-118.
  20. Erikson R., Goldthorpe J.H. (1993). The constant flux: A study of class mobility in industrial societies. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  21. Giddens A. (1990). The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  22. Giddens A. (1994). Living in a post-traditional society. In: Beck U., Giddens A., Lash S., eds., Reflexive Modernization. Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 56-109.
  23. Henkens K., Kalmijn M. (2006). Labor market exits of older men in the Netherlands. An analysis of survey data 1979-1999. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D., eds., Globalization, Uncertainty and Late Careers in Society. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 79-99.
  24. Hofäcker D., Naumann E., Hess M. (forthcoming). Changing retirement transitions in times of paradigmatic political change: Towards growing inequalities?; forthcoming. In: Torp C., ed., Challenges of Aging: Retirement, Pensions, and Intergenerational Justice, Palgrave Macmillan.
  25. Hofmeister H., Blossfeld H. (2006). Women’s careers in an era of uncertainty: conclusions from a 13-country international comparison. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Hofmeister H., eds., Globalization, Uncertainty, and Women’s Careers: An International Comparison, Cheltenham/UK / Northampton/MA: Edward Elgar: 433-450.
  26. Mills M., Blossfeld H.-P. (2005). Globalization, Uncertainty and the Early Life Course. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Mills M., Klijzing E., Kurz K., eds., Globalization, Uncertainty and Youth in Society. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 1-24.
  27. Mills M., Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D., Bernardi F., Hofmeister H. (2008). Converging Divergence? An International Comparison of the Impact of Globalization on Industrial Relations and Employment Careers. International Sociology, 23, 4: 563-597.
  28. Mills M., Blossfeld H.-P., Klijzing E. (2005). Becoming an adult in uncertain times. A 14-country comparison of the losers of globalization. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Mills M., Klijzing E., Kurz K., eds., Globalization, Uncertainty and Youth in Society. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 423-441.
  29. Nazio T., Blossfeld H.-P. (2003). The Diffusion of Cohabitation among Young Women in West Germany, East Germany and Italy. European Journal of Population, 19: 47-82.
  30. Nilsen Ø.A. (2005). Transitions to Adulthood in Norway. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Mills M., Klijzing E., Kurz K., eds., Globalization, Uncertainty and Youth in Society. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 159-176. Paskov M. (2011). Labour market uncertainty and private pension planning in Europe. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Hofäcker D., Bertolini S., eds., Youth on globalized labour markets: rising uncertainty and its effects on early employment and family lives in Europe. Opladen: Barbara Budrich, pp. 69-92.
  31. Purcell C., Flynn M., Chatrakul Na Ayudhya U. (2011). The effects of flexibilization on Social Divisions and Career Trajectories in the UK. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D., Kolb K. (2011). Globalized Labour Markets and Social Inequality in Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 261-292.
  32. Ruland M., Raab M., Schönberger B., Blossfeld H.-P., Hofäcker D., Buchholz S., Schmelzer P. (2008). GlobalIndex: A Sociological Approach to Globalization Measurement. International Sociology, 23, 4: 599-634.
  33. Wielers R., Mills M. (2011). The Flexibilzation of the Dutch Labour Market: The Impact of Globalization on the Life Course and Inequality. In: Blossfeld H.-P., Buchholz S., Hofäcker D., Kolb K., eds., Globalized Labour Markets and Social Inequality in Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 46-75.

  • Youth Labor Market Integration in European Regions Ruggero Cefalo, Rosario Scandurra, Yuri Kazepov, in Sustainability /2020 pp.3813
    DOI: 10.3390/su12093813
  • School to work outcomes during the Great Recession, is the regional scale relevant for young people’s life chances? Rosario Scandurra, Ruggero Cefalo, Yuri Kazepov, in Journal of Youth Studies /2021 pp.441
    DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2020.1742299

Hans-Peter Blossfeld, Dirk Hofäcker, Globalization, Rising Uncertainty and Life Courses in Modern Societies: A Summary of Research Findings and Open Research Questions in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 136/2014, pp 16-33, DOI: 10.3280/SL2014-136002