Labor Studies: Who and Where? A Global Perspective on the Future of Work(ers)

Abstract

This article argues that a global approach to labor studies that takes equal account of labor's Fordist-Keynesian as well as its colonial and anti-colonial histories in the Global North and South would make an important contribution to emerging discourses and debates on the future of work. It contrasts the evolution of workers and work in both developing and advanced industrial economies from the inter-war period onwards, highlighting ways in which political struggles and legal transformations produced distinct labor institutions: ‘good’ union protected jobs for some in the Global North and pervasive informality for most in the Global South. Yet despite these different starting points, the article argues that the emergence of new technologies of production such as artificial intelligence and advanced automation amidst the broader context of neoliberalism is prompting convergence rather than divergence in the trajectories of workers in the developing and industrialized worlds, as mostly clearly seen in the rising casualization of work. The article thus suggests that a truly global approach to labor studies that takes account of the historical and institutional trajectories of work in different contexts would strengthen both the analytic foundations and normative commitments of the discipline as scholars address the anxieties and concerns associated with the future of work.