Community syndicalism for the United States: preliminary observations on law and globalization in democratic production

<p>The Great Recession resulting from the globalization of Finance Capitalism created two structural labor crises for developed economies: 1) The channeling of substantial investment into non-productive, paper commodities, reducing growth of production for use and therefore reducing available...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kenneth M. Casebeer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law 2012-05-01
Series:Oñati Socio-Legal Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2056256
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Summary:<p>The Great Recession resulting from the globalization of Finance Capitalism created two structural labor crises for developed economies: 1) The channeling of substantial investment into non-productive, paper commodities, reducing growth of production for use and therefore reducing available aggregate job creation; and 2) The continued exportation of industrial jobs to other lower cost jurisdictions, and outsourcing, automation, just-in-time production, and speed-ups associated with global supply chains. As a result, local communities and regional populations have destabilized and even collapsed with attendant social problems. One possible response is Community Syndicalism &ndash; local community finance and operating credit for industrial production combined with democratic worker ownership and control of production. The result would increase investment directly for production, retain jobs in existing population centers, promote job skilling, and retain tax bases for local services and income supporting local businesses, at the same time increasing support for authentic political democracy by rendering the exploitive ideology of the Public/Private distinction superfluous. Slowing job exportation may reduce the global race to the bottom of labor standards and differential wage rates reducing the return to producers of value and increasing the skew of income distribution undermining social wages and welfare worldwide. Community Syndicalism can serve as moral goal in an alternative production model focusing incentives on long term stability of jobs and community economic base.</p> <hr /><p>La Gran Recesi&oacute;n que ha tra&iacute;do la globalizaci&oacute;n del capitalismo financiero ha dado lugar a dos crisis laborales estructurales en las econom&iacute;as desarrolladas: 1) El destino principal de la inversi&oacute;n hacia bienes no productivos, reduciendo la producci&oacute;n de bienes de consumo, y reduciendo tambi&eacute;n las posibilidades de creaci&oacute;n de puestos de trabajo, y 2) el traslado de puestos de trabajo industriales a otras jurisdicciones para reducir costes, y la externalizaci&oacute;n, la automatizaci&oacute;n, la producci&oacute;n "justo a tiempo", y las prisas relacionadas con las cadenas de suministro globales. Como resultado, las comunidades locales y poblaciones regionales se han desestabilizado e incluso colapsado, con los consiguientes problemas sociales. Una posible respuesta es el sindicalismo comunitario &ndash;la comunidad local financia y concede cr&eacute;dito para la producci&oacute;n industrial, combin&aacute;ndolo con medidas democr&aacute;ticas de propiedad de los trabajadores y de control de la producci&oacute;n&ndash;. As&iacute;, se lograr&iacute;a aumentar la inversi&oacute;n directa en producci&oacute;n, mantener puestos de trabajo en los centros de poblaci&oacute;n existentes, promover la mejora de las competencias de empleo, y aumentar los impuestos destinados a servicios locales y a apoyar a empresas locales. Al mismo tiempo, se aumenta el apoyo a una democracia pol&iacute;tica real, haciendo que resulte superflua la ideolog&iacute;a explotadora de la distinci&oacute;n entre p&uacute;blico/privado. El freno de la deslocalizaci&oacute;n del trabajo puede reducir la tendencia global de p&eacute;rdida de la calidad del empleo y las diferencias salariales. Ambos problemas dificultan la vuelta a la producci&oacute;n de valor, y aumentan la diferencia salarial, deteriorando los sueldos sociales y el bienestar en todo el mundo. El sindicalismo comunitario puede servir como objetivo moral de un modelo alternativo de producci&oacute;n, centrado en los incentivos para lograr a largo plazo estabilidad laboral y base econ&oacute;mica para la comunidad.</p> <p><strong>DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN</strong>: <a title="Observations on Law and Globalization in Democratic Production. SSRN" href="http://ssrn.com/abstract=2056256" target="_blank">http://ssrn.com/abstract=2056256</a></p>
ISSN:2079-5971