Speaking of Contradiction

Geraint Harvey, Peter Turnbull and Daniel Wintersberger
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Geraint Harvey: University of Birmingham, UK
Peter Turnbull: University of Bristol, UK
Daniel Wintersberger: University of Birmingham, UK

Work, Employment & Society, 2019, vol. 33, issue 4, 719-730

Abstract: Whereas McGovern calls for a moratorium on the ever increasing (ab)use of the word ‘contradiction’, principally because scholars of work and employment fail to connect different levels of analysis and/or demonstrate how and why contradiction(s) lead to widespread instability and upheaval, it can be demonstrated how both can be achieved through the ‘system, society, dominance’ framework. In what follows, the empirical focus is on the safety-critical work of airport ground service providers (GSPs), where key elements of the employment relationship embody contradictions that can be traced to the (sub-)system (mode of production) of a Single European Aviation Market (SEAM) that is now dominated by low fares airlines (LFAs). Instead of a moratorium, scholars of work and employment need to reconnect with society and theoretically ground their analysis in a (capitalist) system beset with contradictions between the forces and relations of production.

Keywords: civil aviation; contradiction; resistance; safety; service work; society and dominance effects; system; trade unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:33:y:2019:i:4:p:719-730

DOI: 10.1177/0950017018759204

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