Work beyond wage: UB takes part in a study that reveals the hidden side of contemporary capitalism
PRESS RELEASE
- Anthropologist Susana Narotzky publishes an article in which she shows how the global economy increasingly relies on precarious, unrecognized and invisible forms of labour that fragment the working class and call into question traditional categories of labour and class.
In a context marked by the precariousness of working conditions and the proliferation of intermittent, invisible and unpaid forms of employment, a study involving the participation of the University of Barcelona questions the foundations on which work has traditionally been understood within capitalism. The article, “Simultaneous disruptions: forms of livelihood, fragmentation of classes, and social labor in the twenty-first century” and published in the scientific journal Dialectical Anthropology, is signed by researchers Susana Narotzky, professor of Social Anthropology at the UB, and Sharryn Kasmir, professor at Hofstra University (United States).
In a context marked by the precariousness of working conditions and the proliferation of intermittent, invisible and unpaid forms of employment, a study involving the participation of the University of Barcelona questions the foundations on which work has traditionally been understood within capitalism. The article, “Simultaneous disruptions: forms of livelihood, fragmentation of classes, and social labor in the twenty-first century” and published in the scientific journal Dialectical Anthropology, is signed by researchers Susana Narotzky, professor of Social Anthropology at the UB, and Sharryn Kasmir, professor at Hofstra University (United States).
The authors argue for a redefinition of the concept of “social labour”, understood not only as work that is remunerated through a wage, but also as the collective human effort — often unrecognized — that enables the reproduction of life and capital accumulation. This perspective makes visible forms of work that have often been relegated to statistical and legal marginality, but which underpin a large part of modern economies, both in the north and south. Thus, it offers a profound critique of the interpretative frameworks inherited from classical political economy, and presents a new grammar for understanding labour in the era of fragmented capitalism.
The article is structured around several ethnographic cases that exemplify this reality. In Mexico, indigenous families collect pebbles from the beach to export them to the United States, an informal and environmentally destructive activity that combines family labour, child exploitation and a total lack of labour protection. In the Spanish region of Doñana, migrants hired to pick strawberries work in precarious conditions, subject to restrictive work permits that prevent any mobility or possibility of collective organization. Meanwhile, in the United States, many young people opt to combine multiple part-time jobs in the face of distrust of traditional stable work, a strategy that reflects decades of labour market flexibility and weakening labour rights.
Far from considering these cases as exceptional or typical of peripheral contexts, the researchers argue that they are representative of the very heart of capitalism today. The authors note that “wage labour has never been the only social relation of capitalism, and today it is more evident than ever”. This phenomenon, they point out, is not new, but it has become structural and globalized. The article also analyses the role of the state in the consolidation of these forms of precarious work, as well as the way in which nature — environmental resources — becomes another element exploited in the name of economic development.
With this article, Susana Narotzky and Sharryn Kasmir contribute to a key debate to understand the transformations of the world of labour and the tensions between capital and life in the 21st century. The text is part of a special issue dedicated to rethinking labour and class from a critical and global perspective. It does so, moreover, with a clear desire to situate anthropology as a discipline capable of unveiling the invisible but structural mechanisms of exploitation of our time.
Susana Narotzky(New York, 1958) is a professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Barcelona and one of the leading international specialists in economic anthropology. Her research focuses on informal work, domestic economies, gender studies and the construction of political identities. She has been awarded the Ramón Menéndez Pidal National Research Prize, in the area of humanities, by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (2020), and the ICREA Academia Award on three occasions. She has published numerous books and articles, and has led international projects on the social effects of the crisis and austerity. She is also the founder of the UB’s Study Group on Reciprocity (GER). Her research combines theoretical rigour with a strong social and political commitment.
References
Contact
Institutional Communication