Welfare reform, precarity and the re-commodification of labour

Ian Greer

Work, Employment & Society, 2016, vol. 30, issue 1, 162-173

Abstract: While welfare reform matters for workers and workplaces, it is peripheral in English-language sociology of work and industrial relations research. This article’s core proposition is that active labour market policies (ALMPs) are altering the institutional constitution of the labour market by intensifying market discipline within the workforce. This re-commodification effect is specified drawing on Marxism, comparative institutionalism, German-language sociology and English-language social policy analysis. Because of administrative failure and employer discrimination, however, ALMPs may worsen precarity without achieving the stated goal of increasing labour market participation.

Keywords: active labour market policies; administrative failure; employer discrimination; marketization; precariat; precarity; re-commodification of labour; welfare reform; welfare state (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:30:y:2016:i:1:p:162-173

DOI: 10.1177/0950017015572578

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