Workers derive status from their power to disrupt and survive the economy

Evidence

While workers in certain sectors have become more militant, the Great Resignation—the wave of job quitting that swept through the tight US labor market in particular in 2021—did not lead to a direct collective assertion of worker power. Instead, as sociologist Daniel Zamora puts it, this gave rise to a politics of individual exit. Thanks in part to government support, many workers left their jobs during and after COVID, searching for higher pay and a better work-life balance. But demands for workplace democracy and control over the production process, still commonplace in the 1970s, barely surfaced. “Workers have gained leverage and, in many sectors, wages are going up,” Zamora writes, “but this is not the outcome of increased labour unrest or the demands of unions,” even as “inflation is now determined by the actions of central banks rather than through collective bargaining.” — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 102 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Industrial workers’ jouissance in grinding hardship was essential, not just their suffering — Perry Anderson, The Origins of Postmodernity, 72; Workers establish their own norms that blunt management speed-up tactics — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1478; Purchasing sign systems like designer clothes has become a labour market survival strategy. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 1823 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Even empowered workers exit individually rather than collectively #complicates (0.72) — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 102