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Financialization and value: why labour and the labour process still matter

Author

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  • Jean Cushen

    (National University of Ireland Maynooth, Ireland)

  • Paul Thompson

    (University of Stirling, UK; Queensland University of Technology, Australia)

Abstract

Despite expanding literatures on financialization, scholarship exploring its relationship to labour and the labour process remains under-developed. A further obstacle has arisen from arguments that novel financialized modes of value extraction render the labour process and labour process analysis less relevant. This article challenges that view and explores how the labour process is still a vital focal point for value creation and extraction. It sets out what scholars should ‘look for’ to understand the ways in which distinctively financialized mechanisms operate in non-financial corporations and how these dynamics are translated into outcomes for and through labour. The article then provides four key propositions, drawing on labour process theory, which specify how those mechanisms are operationalized and their consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean Cushen & Paul Thompson, 2016. "Financialization and value: why labour and the labour process still matter," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(2), pages 352-365, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:30:y:2016:i:2:p:352-365
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017015617676
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Costas Lapavitsas & Ivan Mendieta-Muñoz, 2017. "Financialisation at a Watershed in the USA JEL Classification: B50, E10, E44, G20," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2017_10, University of Utah, Department of Economics.

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