Work and Inequality Revisited: A Global Socio-Historical Perspective and its Political Implications

Titolo Rivista SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Autori/Curatori Francesco Laruffa, Hannah Schilling
Anno di pubblicazione 2016 Fascicolo 2016/144
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 16 P. 85-100 Dimensione file 112 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2016-144006
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What is considered "legitimate work" is a deeply political question, with profound impacts on social inequalities. This article problematizes the norm of ‘normal employment’ in political and academic discourse, showing its Eurocentrism and gender bias and thus its limits for understanding the reproduction of social hierarchies today. In order to do so, the authors discuss predominant theories of work and inequality since the Second World War, critically assessing the dichotomy between workers and unemployed, as well as differentiations between workers in terms of their "precariousness". The authors recommend analyzing the struggles between labor and capital, and with it, the inequalities between workers and capital owners. This has important implications for policies: rather than focusing on the regulation of labor markets for reducing unemployment and precariousness, priority should be accorded to redistribution and the strengthening of social property in society.

La definizione di cosa sia il lavoro è una questione profondamente politica che ha conseguenze importanti sulle disuguaglianze sociali. L’articolo problematizza l’ideale del lavoro "normale" nel discorso politico e accademico mostrando il suo implicito eurocentrismo e il riferimento a ruoli di genere che lo rendono poco adatto per comprendere la riproduzione della disuguaglianza sociale nel contesto contemporaneo. Gli autori discutono quindi i più importanti paradigmi che spiegano la relazione tra lavoro e disuguaglianza, criticando le dicotomie tra lavoratori e disoccupati e tra lavoratori protetti e quelli precari. L’articolo suggerisce invece di (ri-)focalizzare l’attenzione sulle disuguaglianze tra capitale e lavoro. Questo spostamento di messa a fuoco ha importanti conseguenze per le politiche: invece di concentrarsi esclusivamente sulla regolazione del mercato del lavoro, la priorità dovrebbe essere data a politiche redistributive e al rafforzamento della proprietà sociale.

Keywords:Lavoro, disuguaglianza, questione sociale globale, politica di distribuzione

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  • Social investment: Diffusing ideas for redesigning citizenship after neo-liberalism? Francesco Laruffa, in Critical Social Policy /2018 pp.688
    DOI: 10.1177/0261018317749438

Francesco Laruffa, Hannah Schilling, Work and Inequality Revisited: A Global Socio-Historical Perspective and its Political Implications in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 144/2016, pp 85-100, DOI: 10.3280/SL2016-144006