Piven and Cloward,  The Decline of Labor Parties

Labor-based parties' political influence has declined across most "advanced industrialized" countries

Why??

What conditions led to the political strength of labor??


History
Turn-of-the century, early 20th Century

Urbanization, mass production
location of hundreds or thousands of workers under same roof created work places conducive to consciousness raising, organizing, solidarity

Industrial working class, trade union membership, vote totals of labor-based parties grow in tandem (18)


US Exceptionalism
US differed from Europe somewhat in terms of the ability of labor-based parties to negotiate a new social contract on behalf of workers

What was/is different about US history, political institutions, political cleavages that made US social contract less generous than its
European counterparts?

see pg. 19

What concessions do the workers in US earn as a result of their political influence?


Keynesianism


What 2 powers did workers have under the old social contract, old industrial based economy? (See pg. 20)

Do workers still enjoy these powers?

What changed?





Shift from industrial to post-industrial economies
new classes, new conflicts, new bases of class solidarities??





Program to ameliorate the negative affects of post-industrialism:
    "post-industrial Keynesianism"

    orchestrating adaptations to an international economy in ways that     sustain growth levels and market shares over time
   
    not facilitating exit of capital (see Globalization Hoax)

    government economic planning
    centralized unions
    strong welfare state programs
    efforts to both humanized and rationalize economic restructuring



Considerations:

    electoral institutions and alliances - in US, old Dems vs. new Dems
    and decentralization =  import of region and race in US politics

    welfare state - low wage employment and welfare state cutbacks in US vs. what in Europe??

capital intensive investment and expanded public employment

vital new constituencies for new Dems:
    women, environmentalists, new "class" created by post-industrialism??  "class-less" appeals?
new ideology possible??

The Kerry campaign's problem