Precarization

The **precarization** in the labor market (job market), and related to the conditions of employment, underemployment and unemployment of the worker, is the uncertainty, insecurity, and the lack of guarantee of basic and enough socioeconomic conditions for a dignified survival that affects workers and has an effect on their family and social life.

In general, it means the processes of labor flexibility or job market deregulation: lower wages, making firings cheaper, no severance pay, lack of social benefits, and temporary contracts. This precarization process leads to more underground economy and worse working conditions.

The word became known in the 1980s, when it was used for the results of labor flexibility in daily life. The nice word "labor flexibility" is one of the main ideas of economic liberalism that supports economic liberalization. General processes of precarization are Toyotism or Post-Fordism.

## Main idea

The precarization process grew as the neoliberal economic model advanced since the 1980s. It had three main results:
- Unions and workers lost their power to bargain.
- Wages went down a lot and social protection got less and less.
- Flexible labor contracts for companies to get more profits and, sometimes, to avoid other money duties.

The talk about precarization is not only about the relationship between workers and capital. It is also about how some large companies get an advantage over others, which often leads to market control or a monopoly. This usually has bad effects on a country's or region's economy. It limits people's freedom to buy things, and in the medium term, it stops new businesses from growing. A deeper monopoly can cause structural unemployment.

Precarization is also part of the idea of the risk society: a society that lives in uncertainty about many things like social values, the environment, civilization's role, and ideas.

Social protection getting worse happens in different ways, depending on the economy of each region. Also, this definition is about a temporary situation or a trend. So, it is not directly the same as poverty, vulnerability, or risk.

## Globalization and work

When Karl Marx talked about the reserve army of labor, he meant that industrial business owners kept unemployment high to stop employed people from asking for better job terms. Since that time of industrialization, many ways to control production time have changed. But if there is a modern "reserve army," it is underemployment or low-skilled work. This creates a large group of people who are jobless in effect. This makes those with formal jobs feel panic. This happens at the same time as the results of consumerism and the focus on individualism in social relations at work.

The example above mainly describes the situation in the Third World (developing countries). In developed countries, the fear comes from globalization. Companies in the First World look for cheaper labor in the periphery (poorer countries). This puts indirect pressure on unions.

The result in both cases is that the relationship between capital and labor gets worse, and the general quality of life gets worse to different degrees. Although the *models of precarization* are different in each region, it is a global problem that relates to the main economic model. It is the result of how production is set up, with the goal of market control and a higher rate of profit.

## Books

- Robles, Fernando. "El Desaliento Inesperado de la Modernidad. Molestias, Irritaciones y Frutos Amargos de la Sociedad del Riesgo". RIL Editores, Santiago de Chile, 2000
- Piore, M. y Sabel, C. "La segunda ruptura industrial". Alianza Editorial. Madrid
- Wright, E. O. (1983): Clase, crisis y Estado, Madrid: Siglo XXI

## Look also at

- Neoliberalism - Liberalism
- Toyotism
- Proletarianization
- Maquiladoras
- Globalization
- Postmodernity
- Deindustrialization
- Unemployment
- Structural unemployment
- Workweek reduction

## Other websites

- Precarizados MR - Espacio de socialización, denuncia y acción coordinada de los trabajadores precarizados de la Municipalidad de Rosario