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Welfare Reform, Precarity and the Re-Commodification of Labour

Author
Greer, Ian
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 failures and employer discrimination, however, ALMPs may worsen precarity without achieving the stated goal of increasing labour-market participation.
Date Issued
2015-05-01Subject
workfare; active labour market policies; precarity; precariat; industrial reserve army; labour re-commodification; welfare reform; labour markets
Related DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017015572578Rights
Required Publisher Statement: © SAGE. Final version published as: Greer, I. (2015). Welfare reform, precarity and the re-commodification of labour. Work, Employment and Society. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1177/0950017015572578Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.
Type
article