scholarly journals Expanding the Impact of the Psychology of Working: Engaging Psychology in the Struggle for Decent Work and Human Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Blustein ◽  
Maureen E. Kenny ◽  
Annamaria Di Fabio ◽  
Jean Guichard

Building on new developments in the psychology of working framework (PWF) and psychology of working theory (PWT), this article proposes a rationale and research agenda for applied psychologists and career development professionals to contribute to the many challenges related to human rights and decent work. Recent and ongoing changes in the world are contributing to a significant loss of decent work, including a rise of unemployment, underemployment, and precarious work across the globe. By failing to satisfy human needs for economic survival, social connection, and self-determination, the loss of decent work undermines individual and societal well-being, particularly for marginalized groups and those without highly marketable skills. Informed by innovations in the PWF/PWT, we offer exemplary research agendas that focus on examining the psychological meaning and impact of economic and social protections, balancing caregiving work and market work, making work more just, and enhancing individual capacities for coping and adapting to changes in the world of work. These examples are intended to stimulate new ideas and initiatives for psychological research that will inform and enhance efforts pertaining to work as a human right.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Svicher ◽  
Annamaria Di Fabio

In recent years, the decent work agenda has called upon vocational psychologists to advance psychological research and intervention to promote work as a human right. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic is having disproportionate consequences on vulnerable workers, such as unemployment and underemployment, highlighting the need to enhance access to decent work for these workers. As a response, the present perspective article advances job crafting as a promising way to shape decent work for marginalized workers. To this end, the article deals with decent work and job crafting, starting with the definition of decent work according to the psychology of working theory (PWT) and examining the evolution of the construct of job crafting. Subsequently, the literature on job crafting is discussed, focusing on variables related to the PWT model of decent work and their effect on vulnerable workers. Finally, possibilities for further research and intervention aimed at promoting decent work through job crafting are discussed.


Author(s):  
Flavia Bustreo ◽  
Veronica Magar ◽  
Rajat Khosla ◽  
Marcus Stahlhofer ◽  
Rebekah Thomas

This chapter examines how the Sustainable Development Agenda—with its focus on equity, gender equality, and human rights—has provided an unprecedented opportunity to advance human rights within the World Health Organization (WHO). It looks at how human rights are increasingly permeating the Organization’s work, both implicitly and explicitly, and how this paves the way for a bolder vision for human rights in health. Through this examination, the authors lay out a strategy for three necessary shifts that would set WHO on an unprecedented path toward greater rights-based health governance: the adoption of a Resolution by WHO’s governing body on health, both as a human right and as a means to achieve human rights (“to health and through health”); greater collaboration between WHO and the UN human rights system to promote rights-based approaches to health; and building evidence of the impact of such approaches on health.


2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gavouneli

AbstractWithin a few months in 2010, both the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council affirmed a human right to safe drinking water. The present paper purports to identify the impact, if any, of these declarations of an existing or emerging right to water and its repercussions on the proper management of transboundary aquifers, which the ILC sought to regulate in its 2008 Draft Articles. Reviewing existing binding and non-binding instruments and related State practice, I argue that there exists today a mature right to clean water. Although the law of transboundary aquifers is in a nascent form, there is no reason not to import the polished quality requirements of the right to water in order to further identify and fulfil the basic human needs it has set out to address. The achievements of the human rights field may and must be transferred into the emerging water law.


Author(s):  
Ellen Gutowski ◽  
David L. Blustein ◽  
Maureen E. Kenny ◽  
Whitney Erby

The aim of this chapter is twofold: (1) to provide an overview of the consequences of the decline in available, quality jobs throughout the world for the individual, community, and society; and (2) to discuss the implications of the changing world of work for career development, with a focus on the psychology of working theory. First, this chapter summarizes existing research and points to the necessity of decent work for well-being. It also reviews the rise in precarious work, resulting in work instability and poverty for a growing number of workers throughout the world. The chapter then discusses consequences of the changing labour market for community and society, articulating why the decline of decent work is a social justice issue. Specifically, the chapter highlights how access to decent work has historically been and continues to be disproportionately out of reach for those who face social and economic marginalization. Finally, the psychology of working theory is presented as a particularly enlightening theoretical contribution for career development work in the twenty-first century. The psychology of working theory asserts the important role of marginalization and economic constraints in hindering access to decent work. This theory also offers several implications for how scholars and practitioners might act to mitigate such deleterious social forces that contribute to poverty and inequality.


Author(s):  
Jacques de Jongh

Globalisation has had an unprecedented impact on the development and well-being of societies across the globe. Whilst the process has been lauded for bringing about greater trade specialisation and factor mobility many have also come to raise concerns on its impact in the distribution of resources. For South Africa in particular this has been somewhat of a contentious issue given the country's controversial past and idiosyncratic socio-economic structure. Since 1994 though, considerable progress towards its global integration has been made, however this has largely coincided with the establishment of, arguably, the highest levels of income inequality the world has ever seen. This all has raised several questions as to whether a more financially open and technologically integrated economy has induced greater within-country inequality (WCI). This study therefore has the objective to analyse the impact of the various dimensions of globalisation (economic, social and political) on inequality in South Africa. Secondary annual time series from 1990 to 2018 were used sourced from the World Bank Development indicators database, KOF Swiss Economic Institute and the World Inequality database. By using different measures of inequality (Palma ratios and distribution figures), the study employed two ARDL models to test the long-run relationships with the purpose to ensure the robustness of the results. Likewise, two error correction models (ECM) were used to analyse the short-run dynamics between the variables. As a means of identifying the casual effects between the variables, a Toda-Yamamoto granger causality analysis was utilised. Keywords: ARDL, Inequality, Economic Globalisation; Social Globalisation; South Africa


Author(s):  
Xueli Wei ◽  
Lijing Li ◽  
Fan Zhang

Pumping elephantThe COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the lives of people around the world in millions of ways . Due to this severe epidemic, all countries in the world have been affected by all aspects, mainly economic. It is widely discussed that the COVID-19 outbreak has affected the world economy. When considering this dimension, this study aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world economy, socio-economics, and sustainability. In addition, the research focuses on multiple aspects of social well-being during the pandemic, such as employment, poverty, the status of women, food security, and global trade. To this end, the study used time series and cross-sectional analysis of the data. The second-hand data used in this study comes from the websites of major international organizations. From the analysis of secondary data, the conclusion of this article is that the impact of the pandemic is huge. The main finding of the thesis is that the social economy is affected by the pandemic, causing huge losses in terms of economic well-being and social capital.


2021 ◽  
pp. 092405192199274
Author(s):  
Cathérine Van de Graaf

Fair procedures have long been a topic of great interest for human rights lawyers. Yet, few authors have drawn on research from other disciplines to enrich the discussion. Social psychological procedural justice research has demonstrated in various applications that, besides the final outcome, the manner in which one’s case is handled matters to people as well. Such research has shown the impact of procedural justice on individuals’ well-being, their acceptance of unfavourable decisions, perceptions of legitimacy and public confidence. The ECtHR has confirmed the desirability of these effects in its fair trial jurisprudence. Thus far, it remains unclear to what extent the guarantees offered by Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to a fair trial) coincide with the findings of empirical procedural justice research. This article aims to rectify this and uncover similarities between the two disciplines.


Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Margaret Hodgins ◽  
Patricia Mannix McNamara

New managerialism and the pervasive neoliberalisation of universities is by now a well-established phenomenon. Commentaries explore the political and economic drivers and effects of neoliberal ideology, and critique the impact on higher education and academic work. The impact on the health and well-being of academic staff has had less attention, and it is to that we turn in this paper. Much academic interest in neoliberalism stems from the UK, Australia and the United States. We draw particularly on studies of public Irish universities, where neoliberalism, now well entrenched, but something of a late-comer to the new public management party, is making its presence felt. This conceptual paper explores the concept of neoliberalism in higher education, arguing that the policies and practices of new public management as exercised in universities are a form of bullying; what we term institutional bullying. The authors are researchers of workplace culture, workplace bullying and incivility. Irish universities are increasingly challenged in delivering the International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles of decent work, i.e., dignity, equity, fair income and safe working conditions. They have become exposed in terms of gender imbalance in senior positions, precariat workforce, excessive workload and diminishing levels of control. Irish universities are suffering in terms of both the health and well-being of staff and organisational vibrancy. The authors conclude by cautioning against potential neoliberal intensification as universities grapple with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper reviews neoliberalism in higher education and concludes with insight as to how the current pandemic could act as a necessary catalyst to stem the tide and ‘call out’ bullying at the institutional level.


Social Change ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-482
Author(s):  
Zoya Hasan

The recent spread of the delta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries, though uneven, has once again set alarm bells ringing throughout the world. Nearly two years have passed since the onset of this pandemic: vaccines have been developed and vaccination is underway, but the end of the campaign against the pandemic is nowhere in sight. This drive has merely attempted to adjust and readjust, with or without success, to the various fresh challenges that have kept emerging from time to time. The pandemic’s persistence and its handling by the governments both have had implications for citizens’/peoples’ rights as well as for the systems which were in place before the pandemic. In this symposium domain experts investigate, with a sharp focus on India, the interface between the COVID-19 pandemic and democracy, health, education and social sciences. These contributions are notable for their nuanced and insightful examination of the impact of the pandemic on crucial social development issues with special attention to the exacerbated plight of society’s marginalised sections. In India, as in several other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected democracy. The health crisis came at a moment when India was already experiencing democratic backsliding. The pandemic came in handy in imposing greater restrictions on democratic rights, public discussion and political opposition. This note provides an analysis and commentary on how the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic impacted governance, at times undermining human rights and democratic processes, and posing a range of new challenges to democracy.


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