Labour-saving technology and advanced marginality – A study of unemployed workers’ experiences of displacement in Finland

The article explores the experiences of people displaced from work by the introduction of labour-saving technology in Finland. Interviews with 13 unemployed individuals are used as data. The study is underpinned by a Marxist interpretation of potentially emancipatory technology under capitalism reduced to an instrument for reorganizing skilled workers into an exploitable, precarious cadre of surplus and abstract labour. Loïc Wacquant’s thesis on advanced marginality is used as a theoretical framework to unpack and understand the little-studied experience of being displaced from work by technology. The interviewees share a sense of growing alienation and social exclusion. Feeding these experiences are capricious changes in skill-demands and deskilling under automation and robotisation of work. The experiences are exacerbated by digitalised, vertiginous and isolating job-seeking and employment services that cast responsibility on the unemployed individual. While the participants of this study were not on the brink of acute or extreme socio-economic marginalisation, their experiences are rooted in the very same social, economic and political dynamics as advanced marginality. The findings of the study help anticipate the risk of advancing marginality faced by displaced workers, if social policy reforms are not carried out in the short term. In the long term, the findings support the argument that studies on labour-saving technologies and unemployment pay closer attention to the particular role of technology under capitalism.

El Derecho al Trabajo en Épocas de Crisis: el Caso de España / The Right to Work in Times of Crisis: the Case of Spain

ResumenSin duda alguna, en épocas de crisis como la que vivimos desde hace años, que se ha mostrado especialmente intensa en España, el Derecho al trabajo es uno de los que resultan más perjudicados. Se trata de un Derecho fundamental del ser humano y, como tal, aparece recogido en la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos, formando parte de ese “ideal común” que todos los pueblos y naciones deben esforzarse en conseguir. En España, el desempleo ha alcanzado niveles tan elevados que se ha convertido en la principal preocupación de los españoles (prácticamente en todas las familias hay al menos un miembro en “paro”). La situación es desoladora, habiéndose llegado a rozar los 6 millones de trabajadores en situación de desempleo, resultando evidente que el país debe continuar la reforma en el ámbito laboral poniendo en práctica políticas activas que permitan la reducción de esta cifra y la normalización del mercado de trabajo. Sin embargo, no menos importante será la adopción de medidas para la protección de los millones de desempleados, que viéndose privados de trabajo, principal fuente de ingresos para la mayoría de ellos, carecen de los recursos necesarios para hacer frente a sus necesidades básicas y las de sus familias.AbstractWithout any doubt, in times of crisis, as the one we have been currently living for years, the right to work has been particularly affected. It is a Fundamental Human Right, as it is expressed in the Universal Declarationof Human Rights, shaping this “common ideal” towards which all the people and nations must try to achieve. In Spain, unemployment has reached such levels that it has become the main subject of preoccupation among Spaniards (in almost all families, there is at least one unemployed individual). The situation is devastating, as almost 6 million of people are unemployed, urging the country to carry on its labour reforms, implementing active policies that enable to reduce this number and to normalize the labour market. It will be also important to adopt some measures to protect millions of unemployed individuals who, having no job, (as the main source of income for them), are lacking the necessary means to cope with the basic needs of themselves and their families. ResumoSem dúvida, em tempos de crise como a que temos vivenciado há anos, e que tem demostrado ser particularmente intensa na Espanha, o direito ao trabalho tem sido particularmente prejudicado. Trata-se de um direito humano fundamental e como tal, aparece na Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos, formando parte desse “ideal comum” que todos os povos e nações devem buscar realizar. Na Espanha, o desemprego atingiu níveis tão elevados que se tornou a principal preocupação dos Espanhóis (praticamente todos em todas as famílias lares têm pelo menos um membrosem emprego). A situação é sombria, tendo em vista que há quase 6 milhões de desempregados, exigindo que o país prossiga com suas reformas trabalhistas, implementando políticas públicas ativas que permitam reduzir essa cifra e normalizar o mercado do trabalho. Torna-se importante adotar medidas que protejam os milhões de desempregados que, sem emprego– principal fonte de ingressos para a maioria deles –, carecem dos recursos necessários às suas necessidades básicas e de suas famílias.

For Whom is Suicide Accepted: The Utility Effect

It has been established by previous studies that suicide is more acceptable for some people than it is for others, and the main objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between attitudes toward suicidal behavior and the suicidal person's socioeconomic status. Swedish university students read one of eight manipulated case stories in which a person engages in suicidal behavior and then completed the Suicide Attitudes and Attribution Scale (SAAS), which was constructed for this occasion. The data measured six factors, which also served as dependent variables in ANOVAs. Some of the results indicate that the suicidal behavior of an individual of high socioeconomic status is viewed more negatively than the same behavior displayed by an unemployed individual in a social welfare program.