Abstract:This article analyses the re-emergence of the working poor phenomenon in Western Europe. Critically engaging with comparative welfare regimes literature on in-work poverty (IWP), it argues that an international political economy (IPE) perspective is key to understanding the economic and international dimensions of IWP. By focusing on three countries belonging to different welfare regimes, namely Britain, Germany and Italy, the article examines the relationship between production restructuring, IWP trends and t… Show more
“…13–14). Moreover, while these inequalities follow trends that are comparable to the evolution of global political economy during the neoliberal period, Italy is characterized by a particularly strong upsurge in the poverty rate and the poverty gap (Citarella and Daniele, ), especially among working people, paralleling ‘the greater growth in atypical and lower‐paid employment, and declining employment in top‐paid jobs' (Pradella, , p. 11). In the eurozone Italy has the third highest poverty rate after Greece and Spain (over the total population) and the highest poverty gap among 18–65 year‐olds (OECD, 2019).…”
Section: Characteristics and Effects Of Permanent Austerity In Italymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Furthermore, while capitalist crises are endemic to capitalism rather than being anomalous and epiphenomenal, it is also worth stressing that they proved to be important windows of opportunity for intensifying austerity and structural reforms. With respect to the 2007–8 financial crisis, Pradella notes that The policies of austerity and structural reform implemented since 2009 in the face of the deficits created by governments' rescue of banks do not simply aim at reducing public debt and government spending as such, but also seek to support competitiveness and profitability by shrinking the public sector, reducing welfare related benefits, extending the privatization process and generalising precarious working conditions (, p. 11).…”
Section: A Critical Ipe Approach To Discourse and Ideasmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The policies of austerity and structural reform implemented since 2009 in the face of the deficits created by governments' rescue of banks do not simply aim at reducing public debt and government spending as such, but also seek to support competitiveness and profitability by shrinking the public sector, reducing welfare related benefits, extending the privatization process and generalising precarious working conditions (, p. 11).…”
Section: A Critical Ipe Approach To Discourse and Ideasmentioning
Combining a Critical International Political Economy theoretical perspective with Critical Discourse Analysis, the article explores, from the late 1980s to present and across the party-system, the characteristics of the discursive construction of Europe in Italy as a source of legitimation and naturalization of the country's permanent fiscal adjustment and economic restructuring. Through an original analysis of the official policy documents enacted by Italian governments, I show that the resort to Europe and 'risanamento' (permanent fiscal adjustment) are discursively constructed, by domestic political forces, as legitimating strategies to tackle fiscal profligacy and restore growth, notwithstanding the fact that in Italy (1) primary state budget has been in surplus from the early 1990s, (2) economic growth has been mediocre since the 1990s, and (3) social inequalities and macroeconomic imbalances have risen sharply, especially after 2008 crisis due to prolonged austerity measures. Furthermore, in contrast to the literature that sees Italian Europeanization as a pathway of virtuous economic and political change favoured by supranational integration, I argue that the discursive strategies developed by Italian political elites to legitimate change in national political economy should be broadly conceived, and analysed, as organic to neoliberalism and austerity as international hegemonic projects.
“…13–14). Moreover, while these inequalities follow trends that are comparable to the evolution of global political economy during the neoliberal period, Italy is characterized by a particularly strong upsurge in the poverty rate and the poverty gap (Citarella and Daniele, ), especially among working people, paralleling ‘the greater growth in atypical and lower‐paid employment, and declining employment in top‐paid jobs' (Pradella, , p. 11). In the eurozone Italy has the third highest poverty rate after Greece and Spain (over the total population) and the highest poverty gap among 18–65 year‐olds (OECD, 2019).…”
Section: Characteristics and Effects Of Permanent Austerity In Italymentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Furthermore, while capitalist crises are endemic to capitalism rather than being anomalous and epiphenomenal, it is also worth stressing that they proved to be important windows of opportunity for intensifying austerity and structural reforms. With respect to the 2007–8 financial crisis, Pradella notes that The policies of austerity and structural reform implemented since 2009 in the face of the deficits created by governments' rescue of banks do not simply aim at reducing public debt and government spending as such, but also seek to support competitiveness and profitability by shrinking the public sector, reducing welfare related benefits, extending the privatization process and generalising precarious working conditions (, p. 11).…”
Section: A Critical Ipe Approach To Discourse and Ideasmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The policies of austerity and structural reform implemented since 2009 in the face of the deficits created by governments' rescue of banks do not simply aim at reducing public debt and government spending as such, but also seek to support competitiveness and profitability by shrinking the public sector, reducing welfare related benefits, extending the privatization process and generalising precarious working conditions (, p. 11).…”
Section: A Critical Ipe Approach To Discourse and Ideasmentioning
Combining a Critical International Political Economy theoretical perspective with Critical Discourse Analysis, the article explores, from the late 1980s to present and across the party-system, the characteristics of the discursive construction of Europe in Italy as a source of legitimation and naturalization of the country's permanent fiscal adjustment and economic restructuring. Through an original analysis of the official policy documents enacted by Italian governments, I show that the resort to Europe and 'risanamento' (permanent fiscal adjustment) are discursively constructed, by domestic political forces, as legitimating strategies to tackle fiscal profligacy and restore growth, notwithstanding the fact that in Italy (1) primary state budget has been in surplus from the early 1990s, (2) economic growth has been mediocre since the 1990s, and (3) social inequalities and macroeconomic imbalances have risen sharply, especially after 2008 crisis due to prolonged austerity measures. Furthermore, in contrast to the literature that sees Italian Europeanization as a pathway of virtuous economic and political change favoured by supranational integration, I argue that the discursive strategies developed by Italian political elites to legitimate change in national political economy should be broadly conceived, and analysed, as organic to neoliberalism and austerity as international hegemonic projects.
“…Despite the low wage factor is the most intuitive supporting factors, it should be underlined also that poverty is not always synonymous with worker with low wages/salaries. The poor worker refers more to a "conditions" and is influenced by household characteristics rather than individual conditions [21]. A worker may have a low wage, but if he has a spouse or other household member who also works and has an income, the combined income can exceed the official poverty line and lift the household and its members from poverty status.…”
Abstract Having a job is apparently not enough to ensure that the person is able to make ends meet, because the problem of unemployment is actually not the main problem of eradicating poverty. Poor people do not have the privilege of not working, they inevitably have to work to earn income. But the income from the work they do is of low value, so it is unable to meet their needs, especially basic needs. About 8.25 percent of working population in Indonesia are working poor, meaning they work, but the income is not enough to meet the needs. Using 2018 National Socio Economic Survey (SUSENAS) data, this study tries to dissect the labor conditions in Indonesia. The working population is still dominated by workers with low education, and there are still many who work as family/unpaid workers showing as a form of inefficiency. The characteristics of poor workers in Indonesia are male, living in rural areas. Still in prime age range, but poorly educated, only at elementary school level or less. These characteristics at the individual level are closely related to the mechanism of low wages which makes a person more at risk of becoming a working poor.
“…More importantly still, CPE perspectives also emphasise the severe impact of austerity on socio-economic structures and institutions, and the very livelihood of people (e.g. Pradella 2015;Bruff/Wöhl 2016). Once again it is through pointing to the social purpose of integration that the contradictions of this process become clear -the relentless push for competitiveness risks undermining the very fabric of society on which it is based.…”
Section: Whose Europe Whose Crisis? Austerity and Contestation Of Nementioning
Nutzungsbedingungen:Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine Weiterverbreitung -keine Bearbeitung) The KFG Working Paper Series serves to disseminate the research results of the Kolleg-Forschergruppe by making them available to a broader public. It means to enhance academic exchange as well as to strengthen and broaden existing basic research on internal and external diffusion processes in Europe and the European Union.All KFG Working Papers are available on the KFG website at www.transformeurope.eu or can be ordered in print via email to transform-europe@fu-berlin.de. European integration theories', critical political economy perspectives highlight the imbalances and structural power asymmetries of the European project, and how they have become manifest in the multiple crises in Europe. How to account for both the origins and consequences of this crisis has become a key question for scholars and students of European integration. We argue that critical political economy (CPE) has an important and unique contribution to make here. Unlike other approaches, CPE seeks to uncover the deep connections between the (internal) dynamics of the European integration process and the dynamics of global capitalism, arguing that European integration, or disintegration for that matter, takes place in a global, structural context that shapes and conditions both form and content of the integration process.In this paper, we provide an overview of the key concepts, methodology and arguments of a critical political economy perspective on European integration. Following a discussion of the core conceptual framework, the paper then proceeds with an integrated analysis of EMU as a political project, with a particular focus on continuity and changes within the political economy of neoliberalism. The Euro crisis here serves as a contemporary reference point to illustrate the strengths and contributions of critical political economy perspectives to the overall mosaic of European integration theories.
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