the making of the global working class
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Making of Global Working Class? Transnational networks of radical labour research and (h)activism - the dots in Collective Worker’s
Global Brain
Capitalist restructuring > neoliberal globalisation > proletarianisation > organic crisis
TNCsIMF World BankOECDUN agc.GATSWTOEU US ...
world marketinformationalisationtransnationalisationurbanisationprivatizationderegulationliberalisationfree trade zonesflexibilisationsubcontractingfinancialisation
expanding proletariatcrisis of unionsend of class comprimise ( deg. social rights) environmental degradationnew enclosure / global apartheidcrisis of representation
Objective conditions of transnational working class formation
Global Organic Crisis
Transnationalisation of capitalism
Mass labour and societal control-surveillance (socialisation), increasing volume of transnational exchange between societies, rising alternative economies (both capitalist and non-capitalist) > popular uprisings > radicalisation and converging transnational solidarity
Subjective conditions for transnational working class formation
Capitalist-state restructuring, technological development, changes in the capitalist mode of production and societies, expanding and deepening commodification
Transnationalsiation of production & informationalisation, new international labour division, TCC, race to the bottom, fiercing intra-class struggle, transnationalisation of the state, convergence of crises into organic crisis of global capitalism
Informationalisation of capitalism
• nano-technology, micro-chips, Internet, satellites, GSPR, cell technologies and computer programming technology as the material base of world market:
• financial (stock exchanges, banks, private investment and insurance firms, large funds), military and energy networks, transnational reorganization of production-commodity chains and int. trade (paving way to the rise of Collective Worker at global scale) all built on ITC infrastructure
• Silicon Valley / Californian ideology (Rand) + neoliberalism: GATS, Web 2.0, Dot.com bubble, the second enclosure, meta-data storage and analysis leading to massive surveillance capacity for certain capital fractions
• Network society, informational or cognitive capitalism, bio- politics: objectification of entire living labor -intellectuality, affect, creativity- in to the machine
Class wars going global• Increasingly authoritarian and fascist tendency since 9/11, under
the pressure of fierce global intra-class struggle and converging crises and made the class war and its wide spread destruction visible in every domain. Warren Buffet: “there is a class war going on and it is my class the one winning…”
• Global class war has a complex configuration in terms of geographies, social structures and agency. Innovative theoretical innovations came about to understand this complexity
• New Imperialism, Empire, Global Capitalism debate, Global Political Economy, Cul. Pol. Eco., governmentality, TCC, transnational state, (transnational and systemic rivalries, fa-bourgeoisie, internal bourgeoisie), BRICS, state capitalism, cognitive capitalism,…
Organic Crisis of global (transnational, informational, bio-cognitive): Corrective war, fascism, or global
emancipation?
Restructuring process brought about many crises since the late 60s. Finally 2007 systemic, or with reference to Gramsci (Gill) organic crisis of global capitalism has occurred
Neoliberal-capitalist state stacked in a deep legitimacy crisis. The restructuring was increasing the risk of accessibility to livelihoods. After the crisis the risk climbed up to the highest level, for billions of people and ecosystem.
While this situation increased the chance for wide spread social emancipation, it also brought about war and fascism threat (revival of far right, neo-nazizm -Greece, Ukraine most visible).
Expansion of proletariat and the return of labor movement globally Crisis of trade unions and increasing number of
unemployed/landless proletariat The crisis got worsen the life of the majority of
workers. Large segments of once well paid white collar, educated service and knowledge workers and self-employed in the global north became fraction of global proletariat
Mass urbanisation and proletarianisation of the periphery
Re-emergence of labour internationalism
• Google search for: • ‘World working class’ 289.000, ‘global labor’ 242.000, ‘global
working class’ 150.000, ‘transnational working class’ 43.700• Research or debates on global sociology, global labour history, global
political economy, • Material base
• TNCs and transnational production networks, • Immigration – immigrant networks, • Convergence spaces like social forums built (utilizing development
funding and funding from progressive governments)• cheaper transportation and communication expanded networking
space• to speak for the Global North, fractional divisions among
theoretical/academic and political/activist camps of Marxism(s) and Anarchism(s) become milder
• Radicalisation and marginalisation in the campus and the city
Radicalisation and expansion of, and interlocking between labour research, advocacy and social justice activism
- Tradítional political (socialist, communist, anarchist..) activism networks: youth camps and int. communication channels as isolated networks
- ‘Development solidarity’ based labour activism - unions – NGO sector – labour research networks (TIE - transnational information exchange) network, Clean Clothes Camapign, WIEGO, SOMO,..)
- Linked to academia: CLS, GWC project- In the periphery like Sacom, China Labour Bulletin, Tarem, sigtur- In the centre: labor notes, labournets, labourstart, global labour
strategies, war on want, street.net - Campaigns like anti-sweatshop, asian floor-wage, basic income…- Similar networks working on other ‘issues’ like environment,
women, youth, gender, trade, tax, social rights (most of the time varierty of actors): our world in not for sale, seattle to brussels, attac,
1. These efforst established a network infrastructure and international community of ‘interlockers’ who bridge varying stuggles of labour (and global justice)2. Decreasing state and other funding, increasing un-emplyment and flexibility brought about marginalisation and precarity for ‘professional activists’ and activist researchers
Radicalisation and expansion of, and interlocking between free information-, knowledge- and
alternative (shaing, solidarity economy communities
Designers, Artists (digital artists): working for NGOs fincancing independant and collective projects – Euro MayDay, processed world
Journalists: Indymedia, wikileasks Software programmers, network (system) developers and
administrators: FLOSS projects, GNU/Linux, Free Software Foundation, Kein.org, Net-time
Wikipedia, Pirate BayAlternative farming, collaborative production – sharing
economy communities: deGrowth, now-topia, global willages
1. Becoming knowledge proletariat in the global north
marginalisation and radical politicisation: 2. Politcal manifestation of FLOSS movement,
Hackers’ Ethic, Telekommunist manifesto, 3. Anonymous, LulzSec, Wikileaks, Pirate Bay
Convergence spacesSocial Forums (WSF-regional and national)Joint Social Conference:Alter-Summit:
Firenze 10+10:LabourTech, LaborComm
Free Culture, DeGrowth, Oekanox
2011: North Africa, 15M, Occupy, Gezi (trans. Assemblies)
Hub Meetings: Blockupy:
Agora 99: CCC
(piratebay, wikileaks, TOR, EFF…)
hacktivism: anonymous, lulzsec
digital artivists,…)
New international labour comm. and organising
• Creative and interlocking projets: Unionbook, New Unionism Network, Labour and Globalisation Network, Networked Leabour
• Collaborative action and mobilisation: MayFirst, #14N, student strikes,
• Linking factory and public space-service occupations: Spain, Italy, Greece
• Global solidarity conferencs , Global unionism debate• Union Solidarity International, MOOCs
Global Justice and Solidarity Movement
Struggle against neoliberal offensive against the public services/ creating alternatives popular democratic institutions and solidarity economy
transnational water movement
Solidarity experience of unions, ngos and communities in the water struggle
Experiences with premature networking amongst forces before the crisis – moment of war of maneuver (working class in itself)
From Chipas, Seattle, Cochabamba, Porto Alegre, Genoa to Pirate Bay, Wikileaks, Anonymous, Greece,
Tunisa, Tahrir, 15M, Occupy, Blockupy, Gezi...
Starting in Chipas (Zapatista), Seattle (against MAI) and in Cochabamba (against TNCs) we have observed that the counter-hegemonic movements entered in a new era.
Since then social movement were learning and
building layers of networks , existing ones strengthened and spread, there has been are concrete results in divers fields against neoliberalism.
Within this context national (i.e. water) struggles got connected within a transnational space and became a global movement in which trade unions, informal labour organisations, communities, social movements took place.
watershed for dispossessed, workers, unemployed and landless
Question is: in what way the access to drinking water will be improved and expanded?
It has been experienced long enough to see clearly that the capitalist state does not and will not have any motivation to answer this critical question
With its welfare, developmentalist or neoliberal forms capitalist state institutions and strategies work with a logic that excludes majority interest
solidarity, resistance, and building alternatives
It is observed that left political groups, trade unions, other forms of labour organizations, lower segments of urban middle classes, landless peasants, environmentalists, women groups, etc. came together to resist (in Bolivia, Italy, Turkey, Mexico..) neoliberalism
Labour, especially informal labour and unemployed has played important actor resisting privatisation
Within several years the movement moves from local to global level and from resistance to alternative norm and institution building
cracking the state and capital, reclaiming the commons
Reaction to the offensive [of a transnational historic bloc] towards the state has given important results
Water movement has developed successful case
for public water and a strong discourse against the PPPs
Private property in the means of production and natural resources started to be examined more consciously by wider society
Idea and sense of common/public property is promoted successfully and direct participation of agency of water movement to water delivery is put in practice
innovative, constructive, and p2p networked struggle against war and facism, for rights,
democracy and transition is necessary It is necessary to harmonize struggles against the global
offensive of state-capital partnerships towards labour, social rights and the poor
Reconstruction of public sphere and organisation of informal labour needs to be innovatively combined, some social movements would play key role
The struggle needs to organised in a way that it addresses the core institutions of capitalism as private property, competition, profit, etc.
It is important to be innovative, constructive and solution focused and striving to keep middle classes at the progressive side
Buttom-up and networked transnational solidarity
Obstacles before transnational solidarity interest and identity differentiation, nationalism, divide
and rule, wars, military occupations and civil interventions, co-optation, sectarial- hierarchical left and trade union politics,
• Actively working on overcoming the obstacles
Resistance
Alternative culture, norm, idea, and institutions
Joining alternatives
Local National RegionalInternational TransnationalGlobal
Complex Equation of Transnational Solidarity
Labor, social movements, unions, progressive parties, governments, alternative- communities (hackers, makers,
StateCulture
Economics Ethics
Governing Polity Policy
Politics
Complex matrix of transnational solidarity (forging war of movement)
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