Counteracting Factors: The Unmaking and Remaking of Working Classes in Europe

Abstract

Drawing on the works of E. P. Thompson, Beverly Silver, and Rosa Luxemburg this article explores the unmaking of European working classes from the 1970s until today. This unmaking was a response to the challenges that labour and new social movements represented to capital rule from the late 1960s until the later 1970s. Yet, the success of weakening workers by unmaking the social fabric and the institutions upon which their bargaining power rested produces discontent and resistance. The article also addresses the question whether workers' experiences in diverse acts of resistance are laying the foundation for the making of new working classes in Europe. KeywordsWorking classes -social movements -experiences -neoliberal restructuring Neoliberalism reloaded. Keynesian demand management during the Great Recession was just an interlude. As soon as government and central bank interventions were successful in containing the economic downturn policy makers, backed by organized capital, turned back to the neoliberal triad of austerity, flexibilization of labour markets and privatizations. The Euro-crisis offered the chance for neoliberalism's swift and complete comeback. The string of riots, protests and strikes that was triggered by the neoliberal management of the crisis seemed to be completely ineffective. Neoliberalism is more powerful and less popular than ever. Neither organized labour nor the multitudes of the new social movements seem capable of organizing widespread discontent with neoliberalism into a social force strong enough to stop or transcend it.

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