Seán Ó Riain

The Variety of Polanyian Double Movements in Europe’s Capitalisms

At the core of capitalism is the struggle between capital and labour over the rewards of productive activity. This class relationship shapes the distribution of income and wealth in capitalist economies around the world and is itself shaped by multiple historical and institutional forces, taking many different forms in various workplaces at different times. It is shaped by the characteristics of labour, including its level of unionisation, mix of skills and social protection, and the characteristics of capital, including both the structure and strategies of firms and the mix of financial and productive capital.

The changing worlds and workplaces of capitalism

1. Changing Workplaces, Changing Capitalisms Sean O Riain, Felix Behling, Rossella Ciccia And Eoin Flaherty 2. A Varieties Approach To The Varieties Of Capitalism Lars Mjoset 3. The Variety Of Polanyian Double Movements In Europes Capitalisms Eoin Flaherty And Sean O Riain 4. Classifying Labour Regimes Beyond The Welfare State: A Two Dimensional Approach Rossella Ciccia 5. Reforming Welfare States And Changing Capitalism: Reversing Early Retirement Regimes In Europe Bernhard Ebbinghaus And Dirk Hofacker 6. A Precarious Future: An Irish Example Of Flex-Insecurity Mary Murphy And Camille Loftus 7. Institutionalisation Of Trade Union Activity: Four Indexes And Their Ability To Explain Cross-National Differences In Strike Rate Luis Ortiz And Clara Riba 8. Welfare Beyond The State: Employers As Welfare Providers In Germany And The UK Felix Behling 9. Multinationals Of Industrial Co-Development: Co-Creating New Institutions Of Economic Development Peer Hull Kristensen And Maja Lotz 10. Beyond the Flexibility/Security Divide: Skills, Work Organization and External Employment in the German Knowledge-Based Economy Karen A. Shire And Markus Tunte 11. Work-Life Balance, Working Conditions And The Great Recession Frances Mcginnity And Helen Russell 12. Integrating Work And Political Economy Sean O Riain, Felix Behling, Rossella Cicia And Eoin Flaherty

Tracing Ireland’s ‘Liberal’ Crisis and Recovery

Ireland’s deep crisis after 2008 was most immediately produced by the bursting of a real estate and banking bubble combined with collapsing tax revenues. This was made possible by Ireland’s continuing weakness in developing indigenous enterprise and investment, its limited social contract and emergent tensions in its historical external ties with the UK, the USA and Europe. More generally, the character of Ireland’s crisis was rooted in its varied history of economic liberalism, and particularly in an aggressive liberalism of the 2000s that succeeded earlier periods of passive and activist liberalism. Finally, despite recent economic and employment growth, Ireland’s recovery remains tenuous, given the re-emergence of historical patterns and the failure to address some key dilemmas in the ‘Irish model’.

Integrating Work and Political Economy

The preceding chapters have taken us on a tour of European countries, moving from national stories to within organisations, from politics of workplace reorganisation to individual and social consequences, and between work and the economy. Can an integrated sense be made of these diverse journeys across the European economy and its workplaces?

Changing Workplaces, Changing Capitalisms

Recent decades have seen momentous shifts in the organisation of capitalism, including the range of transformations captured under the grand labels of globalisation, financialisation, liberalisation, and post-industrialism. Not surprisingly, the national forms of capitalist political economy are themselves in flux – even though significant differences remain between social democratic, Christian democratic, and liberal economies (among others) the internal dynamics of each of these models of capitalism are being transformed in important ways (Thelen 2014). At the same time, the experience of work in these worlds of capitalism has undergone dramatic changes. Workers often have more autonomy, work more closely with colleagues within and outside their employer’s company, and can exercise more flexibility in organising their work. However, the pressures of work are often more intense, employment is insecure, rewards are uncertain and likely to depend on competition with others, and a general sense of precarity is widespread.

Book Review: The Economic Sociology of Capitalism, edited by Victor Nee and Richard Swedberg, 2005. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN: 0691119589. US

research questions on these topics. One question that immediately comes to mind relates to Gresser’s reservations regarding the longevity and relevance of the US arm of the movement. The fi rst social forum on US soil did not take place until 2004 and since then, there have been only a handful of related events. Further, GJM affi liated protests have declined in number, attendance, and media visibility since 2003. But I think it is far too soon to declare that Gresser was correct in his assessment, especially because the 2007 US Social Forum to be held in Atlanta, Georgia is expected to draw thousands of participants, including activists and organizations affi liated with the numerically impressive and highly visible migrant rights movement. Will the Forum catalyze new cross-sector alliances that will reinvigorate social movement politics in the US? Armed with theoretical and empirical insight into the workings of the GJM, readers of della Porta et al.’s new book will be well prepared to craft new and exciting research projects aimed at addressing this and related questions.