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The Social Structures of Accumulation and the Labor Movement: A Brief History and a Modest Proposal

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  • Kimberly Christensen

Abstract

The economic and political crisis of the 1970s undermined the postwar social structures of accumulation (SSA) and gave rise to the current globalized, neoliberal, financialized (GNF) SSA. Under GNF, we have witnessed the explosion of the precariat and the reemergence of simpler forms of labor control characteristic of earlier SSAs. This article discusses the response of the labor movement, broadly defined, to these changes, including the rise of worker centers, worker ownership, campaigns for increased state regulation, and cross-border organizing. Finally, it raises the question of whether the current national labor federation can act as an incubator for the experimentation and structural changes necessary for the labor movement to meet the challenges of the GNF-SSA.

Suggested Citation

  • Kimberly Christensen, 2020. "The Social Structures of Accumulation and the Labor Movement: A Brief History and a Modest Proposal," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 487-505, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:52:y:2020:i:3:p:487-505
    DOI: 10.1177/0486613418820664
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kimberly ChristenseN, 2014. "'Dark as a dungeon': technological change and government policy in the deunionization of the American coal industry," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 2(2), pages 147-170, April.
    2. Kessler-Harris, Alice, 2003. "Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 20, number 9780195157093.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Keaney, 2023. "Book Review: Normalized Financial Wrongdoing: How Re-regulating Markets Created Risks and Fostered Inequality," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 55(3), pages 516-520, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labor movement; precariat; social structures of accumulation; worker center;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • J54 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Producer Cooperatives; Labor Managed Firms
    • J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy

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