**7. Precariousness and new social movements (NSMs)**

The indicators above clearly show the seriousness of the social situation in European countries. The loss of trust in the system represents a threat to social cohesion and to stability which, in spite of everything, has characterised Western democracies since the end of the Second World War. All the changes that have taken place in the area of the economy in the last few decades have been developed in order to hamper or reverse the old European social model, which in the past was deemed irreversible and an example for other continents to follow. However, the most recent trends appear to surprise even the most sceptical, given the magnitude of the problems now emerging. One of the reasons that the point we have reached is so worrying is because, once again, the issue of labour and the access to employment are again at the centre of controversy and social conflict. In the last fifty years, not only have Western economies and systems of employment become tertiary but the standardised and stable forms of professional practice have also been dismantled or are in the process of being so, as we have previously seen. It can be said that with the stagnation of industrial production and the consolidation of Fordism (in the private and public sectors) the old labour conflict has become "depoliticised" and has gradually become a "manageable" factor in the demanding productive sphere. In a certain sense, we have witnessed a process of institutionalisation in which dialogue and negotiation have substituted the struggle of the working class and trade unions, weakening therefore the dynamic of the trade union as a *movement*. Although it would be an exaggeration to suggest that the battles of trade unionism disappeared in order to give their leaders a greater role and more flexibility to negotiate, the fact is that trade unionism, to a large extent, became bureaucratic, "softer" and more "compliant" as its foundations of support converted from traditional manual workers to the new middle "service class" (Goldthorpe). It is in this sense that we can assert that trade union action became "depoliticised" so as to give a role to "social concertation" and to the corporative spirit. Yet this tendency was found to be on the verge of saturation point (Estanque and Costa, 2011).

If one can confirm that the socio-occupational situation is becoming increasingly worse (on both the objective and subjective levels), it can be said that discontentment will increase to

Labour Relations and Social Movements in the 21st Century 269

fundamentally of a sociocultural base, post-materialist and interclassist (of which the environmentalists, feminists, pacifists, students, etc. are examples), we can associate each one of these two categories to two logics pointed up by Boltanski and Chiapello (2001): 'social' criticism essentially led by the labour and trade union movement, and 'artistic' (or aesthetic) criticism led by the NSMs. Apart from this, it is important not to forget the connections that both types maintain with distinct segments of class that feed their

While trade unions and labour fields were in the past closely tied to the working class, social movements of the sixties, despite being heterogeneous, can be readily associated with the middle class. We are aware that this connection with the middle class is not as obvious as it was the working class toward trade union movement in the past. In fact, apart from "class determinism" being a misleading premise, the heterogeneity and the internal fragmentation of both the "middle classes" and "working class" strips away the sense of any cause-effect relation in this respect. What happens is that certain class groups – or if we prefer, some specific social segments – located themselves in the most general framework of the social structure, are to be found in such particular conditions, that they can trigger shared subjectivities and collective attitudes characterised by common concerns, therefore favouring collective action. Besides, cultural environments and socialising contexts are decisive to forge identities or at least shared forms of identification in conditions which give rise to social movements: identity, opposition to a recognised adversary and a common idea (principle of *totality*) in relation to an alternative constitute three of the principles pointed to by Alain Touraine (1981 and 2006) as decisive criteria in defining a social movement (Tilly,

The NSMs that started forty years ago were, undoubtedly, notable examples of an active role of the middle class strata (probably richer in cultural capital than economic capital), where in fact the better educated young people played a decisive role. The fact that students activism took root in a place which, at that time, was almost exclusively dominated by the children of the dominant elite, should not detract from the importance of its tremendously transforming and progressive impact. It can be said that the patterns of taste brought about by these movements – in aesthetics, in dress, in music, in literary and intellectual interests, in the expression of sexuality, etc. – not only changed everyday life and the life styles of the following generations but also gave new forms to the public and political sphere. The importance of the so called *artistic criticism* fell within the *culturalist* approach that these movements set in motion, putting forward new readings on the capitalist system and pressurising representative democracy to redefine its procedures and forms of exercising power. It is true that the institutional responses that followed in the West – or precisely because of them – illustrated a huge regenerative capacity of capitalism, which allow for the creation of new values, discourses, repertoires, and innovative forms of collective action

Social change in industrial societies throughout the 20th Century was generally perceived according to inherited rival perspectives, sometimes positivism, sometimes Marxism or farleft attitudes. However, the fact is that in actual social life both collective battles and social movements struggles as well as opportunities and social mobility processes brought about

(Eder, 2001; Boltanski and Chiapello, 2001; Chauvel, 2006; Estanque, 2012).

**8. Social movements and the radicalism of the middle class** 

composition and dynamism.

1978 and 1996).

give rise to conflict. So, the argument we would like to stress is that the intensification and expansion of precariousness, the fragmentation of productive processes, and the disregarding of rights and dignity associated with labour relations, are creating a new form of struggle which is based around work and the struggles for the recovery of its dignity will affirm a new state of politicisation. This appears to be happening through new sociooccupational movements that are presently raging across societies on a global level.

Social movements are sometimes classified as "old" and "new", that is, between the dynamics of a socioeconomic base (the labour movement) or the dynamics of a sociocultural base (student movements, environmentalists, pacifists, feminists, etc). This distinction can be adapted to the present discussion given it is about the connections between the field of labour and the activists uprising from the broader sphere of society (Touraine, 1981; Cohen and Arato, 1992; Alvarez *et al.,* 2000; Santos, 2004). Current social protests indicate that the preceding period has been overcome. That is to say, the weakness, the helplessness and the fear that paralysed any possible response on the part of the workforce reached the end. The excluded, unemployed and segments of skilled youth, and those that turn away from trade union organisations seems to resist and want to struggle again. So, these recent social trends seems to reflect a new interconnection between two sides: the sociocultural side, related to the students and well educated segments; and the labour side, with the new "precariat" filed by those coming from the work field at the costs of the growing flexibility, unemployment and precariousness. Both sectors seem to become more united as they have been demonstrating together along 2011 in several countries.

In this sense it is necessary to realign the discussion about the NSMs and draw it toward issues about changes in labour relations. In fact, although sociology of work and industrial relations have established an autonomous theoretical framework, the present approach prefers to draw on some of the classic discussions on the "social question" - which throughout the 19th Century so greatly inspired the main thinkers in the social sciences - by taking up the idea of the centrality of labour and seeking to interpret the current process of reorganisation of labour relations as a driving force of a "new social question" (Estanque, 2007). In other words, this means a process that not only questions the productive system and the rights of workers as such, but above all that threatens the social cohesion, the viability of the economic system, and the future of Europe and representative democracy itself (Castel, 1998; Estanque and Costa, 2011).

Our perspective is inspired by the legacy of the 60s and the 70s but to which is added the features of innovation that have appeared with the most recent movements in the cyberspace era. Clearly, the historical past cannot be wiped clean and it would be naive to believe that this would be possible. Therefore, it is necessary to learn from theoretical reflection what such experiences give rise to, first of all because many of the social scientists that dedicate themselves to the study of these phenomena were themselves involved as activists in these movements. Today, just like yesterday, it is theoretical reflection that pursues the dynamics of societies and the sociopolitical breakdowns that in general are imposed by the NSMs. So we continue to seek in the social responses the inspiring sources of critical thinking and the emancipatory alternatives of our times (Santos, 2004, 2005 e 2011). Apart from the aforementioned division between' old' and 'new' movements, that is to say, between the movements of a socioeconomic base, materialist and classist (of which the old labour movement is the paradigmatic example) and the movements that are

give rise to conflict. So, the argument we would like to stress is that the intensification and expansion of precariousness, the fragmentation of productive processes, and the disregarding of rights and dignity associated with labour relations, are creating a new form of struggle which is based around work and the struggles for the recovery of its dignity will affirm a new state of politicisation. This appears to be happening through new socio-

Social movements are sometimes classified as "old" and "new", that is, between the dynamics of a socioeconomic base (the labour movement) or the dynamics of a sociocultural base (student movements, environmentalists, pacifists, feminists, etc). This distinction can be adapted to the present discussion given it is about the connections between the field of labour and the activists uprising from the broader sphere of society (Touraine, 1981; Cohen and Arato, 1992; Alvarez *et al.,* 2000; Santos, 2004). Current social protests indicate that the preceding period has been overcome. That is to say, the weakness, the helplessness and the fear that paralysed any possible response on the part of the workforce reached the end. The excluded, unemployed and segments of skilled youth, and those that turn away from trade union organisations seems to resist and want to struggle again. So, these recent social trends seems to reflect a new interconnection between two sides: the sociocultural side, related to the students and well educated segments; and the labour side, with the new "precariat" filed by those coming from the work field at the costs of the growing flexibility, unemployment and precariousness. Both sectors seem to become more united as they have

In this sense it is necessary to realign the discussion about the NSMs and draw it toward issues about changes in labour relations. In fact, although sociology of work and industrial relations have established an autonomous theoretical framework, the present approach prefers to draw on some of the classic discussions on the "social question" - which throughout the 19th Century so greatly inspired the main thinkers in the social sciences - by taking up the idea of the centrality of labour and seeking to interpret the current process of reorganisation of labour relations as a driving force of a "new social question" (Estanque, 2007). In other words, this means a process that not only questions the productive system and the rights of workers as such, but above all that threatens the social cohesion, the viability of the economic system, and the future of Europe and representative democracy

Our perspective is inspired by the legacy of the 60s and the 70s but to which is added the features of innovation that have appeared with the most recent movements in the cyberspace era. Clearly, the historical past cannot be wiped clean and it would be naive to believe that this would be possible. Therefore, it is necessary to learn from theoretical reflection what such experiences give rise to, first of all because many of the social scientists that dedicate themselves to the study of these phenomena were themselves involved as activists in these movements. Today, just like yesterday, it is theoretical reflection that pursues the dynamics of societies and the sociopolitical breakdowns that in general are imposed by the NSMs. So we continue to seek in the social responses the inspiring sources of critical thinking and the emancipatory alternatives of our times (Santos, 2004, 2005 e 2011). Apart from the aforementioned division between' old' and 'new' movements, that is to say, between the movements of a socioeconomic base, materialist and classist (of which the old labour movement is the paradigmatic example) and the movements that are

occupational movements that are presently raging across societies on a global level.

been demonstrating together along 2011 in several countries.

itself (Castel, 1998; Estanque and Costa, 2011).

fundamentally of a sociocultural base, post-materialist and interclassist (of which the environmentalists, feminists, pacifists, students, etc. are examples), we can associate each one of these two categories to two logics pointed up by Boltanski and Chiapello (2001): 'social' criticism essentially led by the labour and trade union movement, and 'artistic' (or aesthetic) criticism led by the NSMs. Apart from this, it is important not to forget the connections that both types maintain with distinct segments of class that feed their composition and dynamism.
