Régulation Theory after the Fordist Wage-Labour Nexus. Contributions Towards Placing the Wage-Labour Nexus back on the Research Agenda. Introduction to the Issue[La théorie de la régulation après le rapport salarial fordiste. Contributions pour un retour du rapport salarial à l’agenda de recherche]

This introduction to the special issue on the wage-labour nexus highlights the urgent need to rethink the wage-labour nexus in order to understand the changes in contemporary capitalism. The decline of the Fordist model and the emergence of new forms of employment and conflicts call for an analysis of the diversity of work situations, the integration of ecological and social issues, and a rethinking of social protection. This introduction is an invitation to continue reflecting on these themes, which are closely linked to those of capitalism(s). This text justifies the desire to re-examine the wage-labour nexus, a central concept for analyzing the transformations of capitalism, in a period marked by globalization, financialization, and the capture of innovations by GAFAM, neo-mercantilism, and the ecological crisis (section 1). Section 2 revisits the theoretical concept of the wage-labour nexus and puts it into perspective with the fragmentation of work and different contexts, and engages it in dialogue with the concept of the social relationship of activity. Section 3 looks at the gradual decline of the Fordist wage-labour nexus and questions the possibility of the emergence of a new form of wage labour nexus. Without drawing any conclusions, the last section discusses two possibilities for a new phase of institutionalization of work and the employment relationship.