Quality Work and the Moral Economy of European Employment Policy

Bolton, Sharon C.; Laaser, Knut; McGuire, Darren

doi:10.1111/jcms.12304

Cited by 15 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(60 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, lately, a 'farewell to flexicurity' has been claimed to have occurred, not only in national policies, but also at the EU level (compare Barbier 2015;Bolton et al 2016;Hastings and Heyes 2016;Heyes 2013). This paper answers the question whether and how the flexicurity concept still plays a role within the European Semester's co-ordination activities.…”

Section: Flexicurity In a European Contextmentioning

confidence: 93%

Flexicurity in the European Semester: still a relevant policy concept?

Bekker

2017

Journal of European Public Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Before the crisis, flexicurity was a leading European Union (EU) policy concept, which aimed to balance labor-market flexibility and security. The recent focus on austerity measures to reduce public deficits might be thought to have reduced attention to the 'security' component of flexicurity. Accordingly, a 'farewell to flexicurity' has been claimed to have occurred. This paper challenges that claim and explores the role of flexicurity within the European Semester. It analyses the European Semester's policy goals between 2007 and 2016, as well as the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) to member states between 2009 and 2015. The analysis shows that the EU flexicurity concept has been revitalized, while its definition changed to encompass more social concerns. Even at the peak of the crisis, CSRs continued to devote attention to elements of both flexibility and security, although the precise details differed across countries and have changed over time.KEYWORDS European Semester; European social model; EU socio-economic governance; flexicurity Flexicurity in a European contextThe flexicurity concept has been a key orientation for the European Commission's social policy agenda for the past two decades. However, lately, a 'farewell to flexicurity' has been claimed to have occurred, not only in national policies, but also at the EU level (compare Barbier 2015;Bolton et al. 2016;Hastings and Heyes 2016;Heyes 2013). This paper answers the question whether and how the flexicurity concept still plays a role within the European Semester's co-ordination activities. It establishes to what extent the term flexicurity and its key elements is still used within the European Semester. In order to judge how flexicurity plays a role, the paper builds on the different conceptualisations of the European Social Model (ESM) (Jepsen and Serrano Pascual 2005). The ESM's basic idea of interacting social and economic goals

show abstract

Section: Flexicurity In a European Contextmentioning

confidence: 93%

Flexicurity in the European Semester: still a relevant policy concept?

Bekker

2017

Journal of European Public Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similar to Anderson (2015) and Bolton et al (2016), editors agree on three points that characterizes current labour markets and migrants' role in there: (1). The labour market needs flexible and cheap labour and labour migrants ready to work for lower labour standards; (2) the flexibilization of the labour market leads to a wide variation of flexible contracts and labour relations that are often facilitated by (EU) law; and (3) the existence of a "shadow economy" creates "undocumented migrants that perform valuable tasks on our behalf, without receiving societies' acknowledgment" and being under a high risk of exploitation due to the lack of legal authorization to stay and work (pp.…”

mentioning

confidence: 72%

Book Reviews

Molodikova¹,

Sotkasiira²,

Malm³

et al. 2019

Nordic Journal of Migration Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The new book, Towards a Decent Labour Market for Low-Waged Migrant Workers edited by Tesseltje de Lange, professor of Human Traffi cking and Globalization at Tilburg University, and Conny Rijken, senior researcher Mobility, Migration and Integration Law at the University of Amsterdam, is a volume of 12 chapters bound by the idea of an interdependence of three subjects: labour market, migration, and regulation. The authors make an attempt to fi nd the balance between the demand of labour and opportunities for decent working conditions for the low-skilled migrants. If the demand for high-skilled labour is well-known political discourse in the European Union (EU) countries, the demand for the low-skilled labour also exists (Triandafyllidou 2018) but is poorly refl ected in the migration policy and migration regulations of the EU. The articles are built around the issue of vulnerability of "low-skilled" and "low-waged" migrants. Authors present evidences that the EU and national states' demands for labour market concerning cheap labour are imbalanced and in contradictions with the EU labour regulations for access to low-wage jobs. Low-paid workers can be the EU citizens as well as third country nationals (TCN). Editors and authors develop some theories and strategies to overcome this vulnerability and reveal windows for abuse. An introduction chapter provides the analysis of the relation between labour market, migration, and the rule of law explaining how (legal) boundaries are drawn for the migrant worker from the EU, and from outside the EU countries. Editors highlight terminological ambiguities of the concept of decent labour and decent labour markets. The defi nition of migrant workers according to migration law is based on legal status of migrants upon arrival (labour, family members, students, and others). But this legal status is not fi xed and may change over time for better or for worse. Bert van Roermund (chapter 1) argues that the meaning of skilled and unskilled workers is blurred, and their hierarchy is conditional and constructed. Roermund insists on importance of fundamental rights of migrant workers because labour is about reproduction of human existence (p. 40). Regine Paul (chapter 2) supports Roermund's opinion on conditionality and construction of unwanted low-skilled migrants challenging the notion

show abstract

“…There are good examples of alternative economic structures addressing unequal power relations and enabling a more humane and fair system, a 'moral economy' (e.g. Bolton et al, 2016;Higgins-Desbiolles, 2012). However, Noronha et al (2018) argue there is a need to reaffirm the meaning and value of decent work to equip employers in providing meaningful and dignified work.…”

Section: Decent Work and Sustainable Tourism Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The seminal publication of Randy Hodson's Dignity at Work (2001) facilitated a renewed interest in dignity from the academic community, inspiring multiple publications (e.g. Bal, 2015;Bolton et al, 2016;Lucas, 2015Lucas, , 2017Lucas et al, 2013). In this context, dignity has been associated with, inter alia, value, worth, recognition, respect, self-respect, autonomy, freedom, rank, and equality (Bolton, 2007;Hodson, 2001;Lamont, 2009;Sayer, 2007a).…”

Section: Dignity and Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking decent work: the value of dignity in tourism employment

Winchenbach

Hanna

Miller

2019

Journal of Sustainable Tourism

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper focuses on establishing a conceptual grounding for the value of dignity in tourism employment for achieving decent work as part of the sustainable development agenda. Dignity is widely acknowledged as a key driver for 'good' work, but little conceptual grounding on the value of dignity in tourism employment has been established. This paper will contribute to the theoretical debate on sustainable tourism by providing a critical review of frameworks for decent work, workplace dignity (or its absence), and understandings of identity. We will explore how the context and conditions of tourism employment are conducive (or not) for offering dignified and sustainable employment. This paper makes two original contributions to knowledge. First, it introduces a psychosocial understanding of dignity in tourism employment, reflecting its deeply rooted individual, organisational, societal and policy aspects, and recognising the actors involved. Second, the critical importance of dignity in tourism employment for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is discussed, with future research directions identified.

show abstract

Quality Work and the Moral Economy of European Employment Policy

Cited by 15 publications

References 43 publications

Flexicurity in the European Semester: still a relevant policy concept?

Flexicurity in the European Semester: still a relevant policy concept?

Book Reviews

Rethinking decent work: the value of dignity in tourism employment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About