Work and workers in the United States: A historic turning point?

Abstract

The extraordinary collision of crises in the United States in 2020 – biological pandemic, economic recession, and mass protests – presents a unique juncture from which to consider the development of relations of work in the United States in the first decades of the 21st century. In this article, I begin with a brief review of the peculiar institutional context of American labor and employment relations, as the setting for change. The discussion then follows along three dimensions: 1) labor markets, 2) the labor process, and 3) social reproduction. Finally, I consider the implications of recent trends for the current juncture.

Keywords

• United States
• labor markets
• labor process
• social reproduction
• COVID-19