Unpaid Work, Coercion and the Fear Economy

• In Event: 355 - Section on Economic Sociology Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Inequality: Structure and Mechanisms

Abstract

Unpaid work, as a sociological construct, initially emerged in relation to reproductive work and, in particular, women's unpaid household work. However, unpaid work, in the sense of socially required and routinized labour that is normatively not compensated in terms of monetary and other tangible mechanisms of exchange, has metastisized in the context of the new economy. Here, the authors propose a metatheoretical approach to the dramatic expansion of unpaid work. First, we locate it along a continuum of coercion ranging from the direct physical force that underlies slavery to the subtle, indirect pressures exercised by hegemonic ideologies to sustain unpaid internships and unremunerated working days. Secondly, we argue, drawing on a wide variety of research that unpaid work is expanding in the current historic/economic context. Finally, the authors propose that shifts in the nature of the capitalist economy and the evolution of the 'fear' economy along with the related expansion of the neoliberal state should be seen as key factors precipitating the growth in unpaid work and, therefore, a dramatic intensification of patterns of exploitation.

Authors

• Ann Doris Duffy, Brock University

• Norene Pupo, York University