Neoliberal Capitalism and Precarious Work: Ethnographies of Accommodation and Resistance by Rob Lambert and Andrew Herod (review)

This book addresses the increasingly important topic of precarious work, or work that is insecure and uncertain and in which risks are shifted to workers rather than employers or governments. Theory and research have established that the spread of neoliberal political-economic policies, associated with the decline of unions and the growing imbalances of power in favour of employers over workers, underlie the transformation in employment relations from the standard employment relations of the 30-year period after World War II in the Global North to the precarious, often non-standard, employment relations that characterize both the Global North and South. This book assembles a collection of case studies that show the consequences of precarious work for workers in diverse contexts - such as sweatshops, day labourers, homeworkers, construction workers, and sugarcane cutters - and their varied ways of accommodating and resisting their precarious situations.

The editors' introduction summarizes some of the definitional issues regarding precarious work and provides an overview of the main forms of nonstandard work arrangements (temporary and part-time work and independent contracting) and of the reasons why these have become more prominent in the past quarter century. They emphasize especially how spatial and geographical aspects of capitalism and neoliberal political-economic policies have led to the restructuring of work on a global scale and how this has impacted local workplaces and communities, a theme that is echoed throughout the volume.

The book is divided into two parts. The first consists of six case studies that examine various forms of precarious work and illustrate the variety of ways in which people accommodate themselves to their precarious work experiences. These chapters also show the diverse strategies by which workers resist and protest their precarious situations, as they seek alternatives to unions, who are often reluctant to engage with precarious workers.

Thus, the study of workers in unregulated factories in the clothing industry in the Fashion District in inner-city Johannesburg shows how international competition has weakened organized labour, making coalitions with faith-based organizations a more likely source of power. The chapter on immigrant industrial day labourers in Chicago in the mid-2000s examines a labour rights campaign that was done without union involvement. This accountability campaign was designed to shame the client company into transferring its temporary workforce from an abusive temp agency to a more ethical one. Another chapter looks at home-based work and provides examples of the new ways in which women home-based workers are organizing in Bulgaria and Turkey. These forms of organizing are different from traditional union or collective bargaining strategies, as they use non-union international linkages (such as with the Federation of Homeworkers Worldwide, women's movements, and consumer campaigns in Europe) to build solidarity.

A chapter on the construction industry and labour subcontracting in China elucidates the culture of violence between subcontractors and workers. Its analysis of four construction sites shows how the labour subcontracting system (which is the single most important way of obtaining the labour needed by the industry) is leading to widespread collective action among workers, who are among the worst-paid in China today and are ripe for exploitation since most are not protected by China's labour laws.

Another chapter looks at how the toxic pollution of air and groundwater generated by large steel corporations have led to social and economic insecurity in a South African community (Steel Valley, near Johannesburg). The authors' analysis links nature and capitalism by revealing how the marketization of nature driven by global corporations and ecological degradation deepens social and economic insecurity. They argue that transnational solidarity networks led by labour (such as sigtur - Southern Initiative on Globalization and Trade Union Rights) and environmental campaigns ("ecological unionism") are needed to address the growing ecological crisis.

The final chapter in the section examines how global ethanol corporations and export-oriented sugar policies are leading to greater concentration in the ownership of land and...