Situating worker cooperatives in the arts and construction industry: a comparative analysis through a Polanyian lens
Creators: name: Marques, Joana S.
name: Veloso, Luísa
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action
COLLECTITUDE
workers collectives
Polanyi
countermovements

description: The processes of work commodification and precarization in contemporary societies have long been recognized as a “new social question", defying the idea of work as a stable place for the development of solidarities (Castel 1995). At the same time, social protection, even in the more advanced economies, has become increasingly fragile in the face of international competition and the politics of flexible labour markets, through the fragmentation of employment statutes and the multiplication of “nonstandard employment relations” (Kalleberg 2000). Against this background, the theoretical work of Karl Polanyi (1944,) recognizing different responses to the commodification of labour, is an influential framework to approach how society generates counter-movements to protect itself against the disruptive impact of commodification and the extension of free market principles, which he conceptualized as the "double movement". Our research question is to identify cooperative models that are emerging today in response to precarious work, interrogating to what extent they result in progressive counter-movements. Empirically, the research draws on the ongoing COLLECTITUDE project, which undertakes a comparative analysis of two sectors that are exemplary of current precarization trends: the construction industry, a labour-intensive sector that has the ability to provide “employment for those with little education or skill, many of them from the poorer sections of society” (ILO 2001), often through subcontracting and the use of non-standard forms of employment; and the arts sector, composed by very qualified professionals, where, despite the wide range of activities and work situations, the preponderance of project work is striking and relates to flexibility, intermittency, self-exploitation and lack of protection in employment, forming an “artistic precariat” (Gill and Pratt 2008). These two sectors, representing two distinct sectors of the workforce, provide longstanding examples of precarious work and have been related to precarious organizing. Based on the Portuguese context, this paper provides a comparative outlook of both sectors and analyses Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) organizations in both sectors (workers’ collectives, cooperatives, associations) that put labour at its core. Polanyi’s analysis of the plurality of economic forms (1944) provides grounding for highlighting the different organizational frames, based on the types of resources (and motivations) involved – market, non-market (anchored in public redistribution), and non-monetary (based on principles of reciprocity and domesticity, such as volunteer work and sharing). We argue on the analytical significance of both sectors to explore new forms of workers’ solidarity, also showing how work cooperatives are themselves pervaded by precarity, calling attention to the fact that cooperative responses should not dismiss governments from guaranteeing access to adequate social protection to all workers. Our purpose is to contribute to the discussion of an approach to SSE that integrates criticisms and also contribute to the debate on the potentialities and shortcomings of working with Polanyian conceptual framework for critically analysing SSE. The research is relevant to an international audience since the increase in precarious work and its countermovements is a general trend across countries and the analytical and methodological approaches developed integrate a global and comparative perspective, allowing to specify, compare and universalise beyond the Portuguese case. <strong>References:</strong> Burawoy, M. (2013). Ethnographic fallacies: reflections on labour studies in the era of market fundamentalism. Work, employment and society 27(3): 526-536. Castel R (1995) Les Métamorphoses de la question sociale, une chronique du salariat. Paris: Fayard. Hillenkamp, I.; Laville, JL.(2013). Socioéconomie et démocratie: l’actualité de Karl Polanyi. Toulouse: Éditions Érès. ILO (2001). International construction industry in the twenty-first century: its image, employment prospects and skill requirements. Genève: ILO, p. 12. Gill, R.; Pratt, A. (2008). In the social factory? Immaterial labour, precariousness, and cultural work. Theory, Culture, and Society 25: 1-30 Kalleberg, A. (2000). Nonstandard employment relations: part-time, temporary and contract work. Annual Review of Sociology 26:1, 341-365. Laville, JL.(2003). Avec Mauss et Polanyi, vers un theorie de l’economie plurielle. Revue du Mauss, v. 21, p. 237-249. Polanyi, K. (1944) The Great Transformation: the political and economic origins of our time. New York: Beacon Press.