Question 1
Globalization is the process of contact, collaboration and assimilation with people, companies and governments of other nations. Globalization is done mainly for the purposes of international trade and investment. Information technology made globalization possible on a wide scale, but people have participated in trade, communication and collaboration with people of other nations for thousands of years. The main features of globalization include an economy that is dominated by investments all around the globe, multiple production locations and processes, low costs for transportation, the information and communication technology revolution, deregulation of national economies, and the relevance and ubiquity of major transnational economies.
Neoliberalism gets the “neo” part of its name because it is the revival of nineteenth century ideas in the twentieth century about laissez-faire economics and free-market capitalism. After World War II, the dominant economic ideas were Keynesian and that lasted until 1980. Neoliberalism is associated with economic liberalization, privatization, deregulation, free trade, austerity, and reduced government spending in favor of the private sector.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the one that is upon us now. It is the new era of digitization being extended in new and unexpected ways. The Fourth Industrial Revolution also covers the new robotics that give machines and humans new capabilities through artificial intelligence. The Industrial Revolutions of the past have began a new period in the lives of humans where a form of work has opened up new possibilities. For the fourth one of these revolutions the type of work is based on what the technologies of the Third Industrial Revolution created—information and communication technologies, robotics, and our human bodies. For instance, genomics are the hot topic in medicine currently, and biometrics is the safest way to secure one’s personal property. Artificial intelligence is advancing so that computers will soon be able to out think the humans who created them. If humans are still involved in industry it is because they are still the least expensive option.[1] These are all aspects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Some of the stages of capitalism include the Early stage also called the monopoly stage or the state monopoly capitalism. It began with the cloth industry in England in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Early stage capitalism featured the use of accumulated wealth to invest in productive enterprises such as expanding one’s cloth manufacturing business by purchasing an additional loom rather than investing in building another cathedral for religious purposes. The former created more wealth while the later hopefully bought a person a place in heaven but the return is not assured. Other features of the early stage of capitalism include colonialism and imperialism where rulers of countries invested in exploration of uncharted land in hopes that it would bring them wealth. They did not care that there were indigenous people who owned these lands. The mostly European rulers wanted to claim the land as their own so they could accumulate wealth from the resources found in these new lands. They enslaved indigenous people to work for them and imported slaves to work for them.
Once people saw that by investing the wealth they had in their business brought them more wealth, then the stage of capitalism changed to free trade and finance capitalism. This is the capitalism that Adam Smith, who many believe “invented” capitalism, endorsed. Smith said that when individuals have a free market in which to work, and pursue their own self-interests that promotes the good of the community. He also said that there was an “invisible hand” guiding the market even though it could appear chaotic at times. Since Smith’s time, capitalism has appeared in many different iterations mainly based on the private ownership of the means of production operating for profit and accumulation of wealth. Workers make a living and owners make profit. Neoclassic economics led to laissez-faire capitalism which says that if people are given the important information they will make rational decisions, so the market will right itself without government interference in the form of regulations, subsidies or tariffs.
After the Great Depression, economists favored Keynesian economics that said government intervention was necessary to a point to keep the market stable. However, in 1980, Ronald Reagan became president and initiated the trickle-down theory of economics that claims if wealthy people are given tax breaks, they will invest the extra money in building businesses that will hire poor people so that everybody can make money. That has proven to be false in all of the different ways that Republican administrations have tried to sell it to the masses. The wealthy just get wealthier and they do not invest in American workers. Reagan over saw deregulation, which occurs when the laws and constraints placed on businesses by government are removed. He also ended or greatly reduced several social programs that are meant to redistribute some of the wealth through taxes are eliminated or pared down, leaving a huge wealth gap, which is where we are now in the United States and throughout the world. This is often called late stage capitalism because the theory now appears absurd because it harms the majority of people and only helps the wealthiest. Perhaps the “late stage” moniker is wishful thinking.
Deunionization is the concerted effort to do away with labor unions so that workers have no power. It leads to precarious work, when full-time work positions that are filled by temporary or part-time workers who are not given the salary and benefits a full-time worker would be given. Deunionization has also led to the gig economy, which is a market economy dominated by freelance or short-term contract work. Automation, when computers and machines do the work that humans used to do, has also contributed to current state of the economy. Unions could still be relevant for workers, but they do not have a good reputation. They are known for corruption at the top and fecklessness at the bottom. Often union workers do not produce much, but because they are in a union they cannot be easily terminated. If unions are going to remain relevant, and they could, they will need to adjust to the new automation that is here and the more that will be coming. However, they have been adjusting to automation for over a century now. Unions can be useful to the workers because there will be fewer jobs in the future for humans. They can protect those jobs and take some of the power away from the wealthy who own the means of production. They can do this be organizing labor. Labor is still necessary, and if the owners cannot get labor because unions strike, they have to negotiate. Forcing owners to negotiate is the union’s best trait.
Deindustrialization is the market moving more towards service models than manufacturing models. Some say it is a crisis. “There is another way to address the crisis brought about by deindustrialization: Pay all workers better. The big labor innovation of the 21st century has been campaigns seeking to raise local or state minimum wages.”[2]
That way, other developing nations handle manufacture and the service economy becomes wealthy by providing services. The rise of the service and financial sectors refers to the fact that the economy is often based on how healthy the financial sector is. It focuses on wealth and investments. If wealth is invested in business, then the economy is strong. The service sector is that industry that provides intangible “goods” such as consulting, advice, cleaning, food service, marketing, transportation, media, software and computing as well as many others. The market now is for services rather than goods in many industrialized nations.
Question 2
In the 1980s and into the 1990s, labor in Los Angeles was not as necessary as it had been in the past. Deindustrialization had occurred because of the cost of leasing space in Los Angeles among other reasons. Along with deindustrialization, deunionization also occurred and a service economy rose, which means the economy had shifted to a service and entertainment focus. Labor jobs had been downgraded and many workers had moved to other industries or other cities. Immigrants came in to fill the labor market at a much lower wage than previously demanded. Some thought that the immigrants could not be organized into a union. This belief was based on the fact that immigrants came from many different countries and there were language and cultural barriers. Also, many were undocumented and did not want to be in a group that would call attention to them. These factors made it easy for employers to exploit them by paying them very low wages, not caring about the working conditions and not providing health benefits. This is an example of class consciousness because the groups with higher socioeconomic status tried to exploit those with lower socioeconomic status. Unions, however, recognized the potential of immigrant workers. The Service Employees International Union organized janitors and the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union organized hotel workers. New unions also came into being such as the National Union Labor Organizing Network and the Koreatown Immigrant Worker Association. Several labor campaigns were started too such as Justice for Janitors and CLEAN Car Wash Campaign also helped to get better pay and working conditions for immigrants in the labor sector.
Several groups found that it was not hard to organize the “unorganizable” because they all had similar desires—better pay and working conditions. The Justice for Janitors campaign took place in April of 1990. It smartly included women who are also part of the work force but often ignored or discriminated against. “Inequality regimes are highly various in other ways; they also tend to be fluid and changing. These regimes are linked to inequality in the surrounding society, its politics, history, and culture. Particular practices and interpretations develop in different organizations and subunits.”[3] The movement staged a three-week strike by janitors with support from religious leaders, community leaders and politicians. It addressed wages and working conditions of janitors and helped to improve the lives of the immigrants who were the majority of janitors in the city. The cleaning companies that hire the janitors signed a contract that gave the janitors a wage increase and health benefits. Since the immigrants were hired so that the industry could be downgraded by not paying the immigrants what the work demanded, cleaning companies made lots of profit. When the immigrants organized, they were able to get better pay and benefits, which helped to reduce income inequality. Justice for Janitors is an example of social movement unionism.
Other groups such as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles or CHIRLA also focused on human rights. CHIRLA was created in Los Angeles but is now a national organization. This is because of its ability to create social networks for people who feel marginalized such as immigrants, both documented and undocumented. Those who are experiencing marginalization feel powerless. However, CHIRLA (and others like them) organizes immigrants, organizations and other groups so that there is power in their numbers. They campaign to change public opinion and try to get civil, labor and human rights for immigrants especially, but really for everyone. They have been a group that has influence laws and policies that benefit all immigrants including undocumented immigrants. They organized domestic workers, day laborers and undocumented students. It later and currently organizes street vendors and household workers too. One of its most notorious campaigns was against sweatshops and in favor of garment workers.
The activities of CHIRLA and other groups in Los Angeles include largely getting numbers of the same type of workers together so that they can form a powerful group. They help them to form a message and then to deliver that message to the relevant parties through marches, labor strikes, speeches, rallies and the other typical type of organizing strategies. CHIRLA and others also advocate for worker and immigrant rights at the local, state and national levels of government by organizing groups to vote for politicians that favor their cause, helping to write legislation, and by running informative campaigns about the activities of politicians they would like to see voted out of office.
One group that has been particularly strong in organizing politically is the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (LACFL). It has been around since the 1950s and represents several industry sectors including long term care workers, teachers, county workers and members of the film industry. Many of its members hold voting positions in local Los Angeles politics. They provide support for laid off and striking workers and distribute food during the holidays. Because of their longevity and because of the industry sectors they represent, they have a lot of political clout.
Unions have changed race relations, especially when it comes to work, in Los Angeles and the United States. People considered minorities were not always hired because of racism, but Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) changed that. Just like majority workers, minority workers want the union jobs because they know they will be paid fairly. The union does not allow discrimination for race or gender. By organizing workers, especially minority and female workers, unions get power because there are numbers and large voting blocs that can change the political landscape. Politicians want to win their votes, so they concede to demands for laws to protect such workers. Immigrants also join unions to be protected from unfair employment policies. The groups organizing workers in Los Angeles saw the great numbers of minorities and immigrants and saw a powerful lobbying group. These groups carried political clout because of their size. The members of these groups wanted fair pay and benefits for the work they do rather than allowing the wealthy owners of businesses to exploit them. This is how unions are formed—by organizing people tired of being exploited by their employers and the market.
Bibliography
Acker, Joan. "Inequality Regimes: Gender, Class, and Race in Organizations." Gender and Society 20, no. 4 (2006): 441-464.
Dixon, David. "A History and Future of the Rise of." Hacker Noon. March 3, 2017. https://hackernoon.com/a-histo... (accessed December 8, 2018).
Ehrenreich, Barbara. "Divisions of Labor." New York Times. February 23, 2017. https://drive.google.com/drive... (accessed December 8, 2019).
[1] Dixon, David. "A History and Future of the Rise of." Hacker Noon. March 3, 2017. https://hackernoon.com/a-histo... (accessed December 8, 2018).
[2] Ehrenreich, Barbara. "Divisions of Labor." New York Times. February 23, 2017. https://drive.google.com/drive...
[3] Acker, Joan. "Inequality Regimes: Gender, Class, and Race in Organizations." Gender and Society 20, no. 4 (2006): 441-464. 443.
