SOC100 - Lecture 7 Work and Labour markets

why are suicide rates so high in factory jobs?

why are suicide rates so high in factory jobs?

• lack of community

• lack of hope

• alienation

no community

long hours and one day off

• no time to for family or friends

no hope

• position isnt temporary

• no skills or advancement

• not able to afford much

alienation

estrangement from human’s essential nature

• coined by karl marx

what is essential to human nature according to marx?

• ability to use creative potential

creative potential

engaging in work that allows us to think, be creative and take pride in the products of our labor

what are the 4 tenents of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

• self actualization

• esteem needs

• belongingness and love needs

• safety needs

• physiological needs

special economic zones

• also referred to as foreign trade/free trade zones

designated area of a country that is declared symbolically outside

• regular laws, customs and police are not applicable to that zone

how do corporations like Apple use special economic zones to their benefit?

• easier to do business, manufacturing and production because there is no need to worry about keeping up with government yellow tape

• no need for administrators to work around laws and regulations

what are the two biggest changes to inequality in the labour market?

• well documented violations of human rights and international labor standards resulting in suffering or manufacturing

• growing power of multinational corporations

what is the catalyst to change in inequality regarding labour markets?

globalization

what is Max Weber’s definition of power?

• the ability to achieve one’s goals when others are trying to prevent them from being realized

globalization

the process of creating networks of connections among actors at intro or multicontinental distances mediated through various flows like people, information and ideas, capital and goods

how did globalization occur?

migration, global trade, war and colonization

what factors des the KOF index consider to measure globalization?

• economy

• society

• politics

• overall globalization/ all three factors combined

economic globalization

trade in goods, services, diversity of trade partnerships, foreign direct investments, international debt, international reserves, international income payments

social globalization

international telephone calls, money transfers, tourism, students, immigration and emigration

political globalization

embassies, UN Peacekeeping missions, international NGO’ present

how has globalization evolved over time?

it is increasing

why do we care about the economy so much?

affects

• pensions

• jobs

• maintaining home value

pensions

provided by your job that your employer and yourself contribute to that you use once you’re retired

• invested in the stock market

• good economy = higher pension

• bad economy = lower pension

free market economics

unregulated system of economic exchange where taxes, quality controls, quotas, tariffs, and other forms of centralized economic interventions by the government don’t exist or are minimal

• opposite of socialist or communist governments

• only relies on supply and demand as a dictating force

supply and demand

the more something is in demand and the lower it is in supply the more expensive it will be

• the opposite is also true

progressive tax rates

rates here the more one makes in income the more tax they pay

proportional/flat tax rates

system where everyone pays the same tax rate regardless of income

free trade agreement

pact between two or more countries that makes it easier to trade goods across national boundaries

• ex: NAFTA

quota

government imposed trade restriction that limits the number or monetary value of goods that a country can import/export during a certain period

embargo

official ban on trade or other commercial activity with another country

sanctions

laws passed to partially restrict or abolish trade with certain countries

levies

legal means by which a taxing authority or a bank can seize property for the payment of a debt

non tariff barriers

a way to restrict trade using trade barriers in a form other than a tariff

• ex: quotas, embargo, sanctions, levies

bourgeoisie

those that owned the means of production

proletariat

those that must sell their labor in order to sustain themselves

what does Marx’s labour theory of value state?

the market price of goods should be determined by the average number of hours required to produce it, the cost of the labour and the cost of the raw materials

labour union

organization formed by workers in a particular trade industry or company for the purpose of improving pay, benefits, and working conditions

collective bargaining

labour union selects representatives to negotiate with employers

race to the bottom

workers must offer their labour for cheaper, to work longer hours and/or to work under worse conditions in order to secure employment versus a corporation being located elsewhere

job exportation/offshoring

relocation of jobs to other countries where products can be produced for cheaper

• product of the race to the bottom

sweatshops

work environments characterized by less than minimum wage pay, very long hours, unsafe working conditions, abusive treatment of workers, lack of worker organizations aimed to negotiate better working conditions

gross domestic product

measures the value of economic activity within a country. It is the sum of the market values of all final goods and services produced in an economy during a period of time

surplus value

workers produced more value in terms of the products they made then they were paid in wages

bretton woods conference

first world economic meeting

Uruguay rounds

second world economic meeting

• countries wanted to protect interests of multi-national corporations

• free market approach is more integrated in trade

• negotiation of removal of national policies harming other country corporations