opening the black box: space, time and the geography of the labor process
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Opening the Black BoxSpace, Time and the
Geography of the Labor Process
Presentation to Geography SeminarWhat’s Space Got to Do With It?
Making Geography Relevant in the 21st Century
September 21, 2011
Chris BennerUniversity of California, Davis
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Outline
The Job CrisisGeography to the rescue!?!Towards a new social compact?
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Dec
-07
Jan-
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eb-0
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8Ja
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Feb
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93.00
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95.00
96.00
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98.00
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Job-less Recovery:U.S. GDP and Employment, 2007 recession
EmploymentQuarterly GDP
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748 92.00
93.00
94.00
95.00
96.00
97.00
98.00
99.00
100.00
101.00
102.00
Index of Employment Change Following Cycle Peak
Dec-07
Dec-69
Nov-73
Jan-80
Jul-81
Jul-90
Mar-01
Source: BLS, CES, Employment, Hourse and Earnings. Series CES0000000001
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 98.00
99.00
100.00
101.00
102.00
103.00
104.00
105.00
106.00
107.00
108.00
Job Less Recovery:Disturbing Trends
Feb-61Nov-70Mar-75Jul-80Nov-82Mar-91Nov-01Jun-09
Source: BLS, CES, Employment, Hourse and Earnings. Series CES0000000001
Ind
ex o
f U
.S.
Em
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ym
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ge i
n 3
6 M
on
ths F
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ow
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Recessi
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Tro
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Typical proposed solutions
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2000 2001 2001 2002 2002 2003 2003 2004 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
Monthly Hires and Separations, 2000-2011
New Hires
Separations
,000
s
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Q03
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1992
1993
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2010
0
1000
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7000
8000
9000
10000
-1
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
Quarterly Business Employment Dynamics, 2000-2010
Gross Job Gains (Left Axis)
Gross Job Losses (Left Axis)
% Job Gains (Right Axis)
% Job Loss (Right Axis)
,000
s
Per
cen
t
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19481951195419571960196319661969197219751978198119841987199019931996199920022005200820110.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
Average Weeks Unemployed
Average Weeks Unemployed
Source: BLS, CPS, Series LNS13008275
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1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Average Duration of Unemployment by Decade
Weeks
Source: BLS, CPS, Series LNS13008275
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Walt, Carmen De Navas, Bernadette Proctor and Jessica Smith (2011) Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, p60-239, Current Population Reports, Consumer Income (U.S. Census Bureau), http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf
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1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
Wages at the high end are growing fasterChange in real hourly wages by wage percentile,
1973-2009
Ind
ex (
1973=
100
)
Source: EPI analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Outgoing rotations group.
95th90th
80th
50th20th10th
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1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
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1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
The rich are growing, while the bottom half loses ground
Change in real hourly wages for men by wage percentile, 1973-2009
Ind
ex (
1973
=10
0)
Source: EPI analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Outgoing rotations group.
95th
90th
80th
50th
20th
10th
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1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
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1974
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1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
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1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
Wages and compensation stagnating: Hourly wage and compensation growth for
production/non-supervisory workers and productivity, 1947-2009
Ind
ex (
19
47
= 1
00
)
Average hourly compensa-tion
Average hourly wage
Source: EPI analysis of Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Productivity
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1947195019541958196219651969197319771980198419881992199519992003200720100.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
80.0%
Components of Total Personal Income, 1947-2011
Wage and salary disbursements
Supplements to wages and salaries
Income on Assets
Personal Transfer Receipts (e.g. Social Security, Medicare, UI, Veteran's benefits, Other)
Farm Proprietors' Income
Nonfarm Proprietors' Income
Rental Income
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http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/01/art3full.pdf
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19
13
19
17
19
21
19
25
19
29
19
33
19
37
19
41
19
45
19
49
19
53
19
57
19
61
19
65
19
69
19
73
19
77
19
81
19
85
19
89
19
93
19
97
20
01
20
050%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Top 1% (incomes above $368,000 in 2008)
Top 5-1% (incomes between $153,000 and $368,000)
Top 10-5% (incomes between $109,000 and $153,000)
Sh
are
of
tota
l in
co
me
ac
cru
ing
to
ea
ch
gro
up
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Pittsburgh steel work in the 1950s
Steel-production, material transformation
Work, job, career and generational stability
Single employer largely controlled labor process
Union—clear role in negotiating work and employment conditions
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Silicon Valley in the 1990s
Information transformation 87% of all job growth 1990-2001
in firms that didn’t exist in 1990. In driving industry clusters, newly
established firms accounted for 260,000 new jobs, while firms that existed in 1990 lost 120,000
Top 100 “half-life” of about 7 years.
Median job tenure: 30 months, Market-mediated “employability”
management; networked production
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ISP Customer Service in 2006 Information Processing Agents in South Africa, interacting
with internet service provider customers across the U.S.
Five corporate ‘employers’ in two countries ISP-US SA Computer Company 2 different temporary help firms 1 joint venture ‘legal employer’
Labor process driven by real-time benchmarking across at least 6 more companies and 4 countries
0 1,500 0 in 3 years
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Rethinking economic institutions
Geographic analysis of informational cities & economies
Networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and splintering urbanism
Corporations ≈ legal entities and flexible platforms for organizing temporary production systems
Networks and value chains Clusters, relational assets, untraded
interdependencies, communities of practice… Networked spatial processes and evolution over
time are key!Geographical analysis of informational labor
process …?
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Labor process
WORK
EMPLOYMENT
TIMESPACELabor
Process
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SWET-Dimensions of labor process
WORK
EMPLOYMENT
TIMESPACE
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SPACE (of labor process)
Industrial economyTerritorially basedConsistent &
coherent institutional governance
Informational economy
Tele-mediated space & territorial space
Network basedInconsistent and
multiple institutional governance
Def: Material support for time-sharing social practices. (Territorial and tele-mediated)
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WORK
Industrial economy Predictability and stability
in work demands Incremental changes in
human capacities required for work
Productivity of material manipulation critical for success
Informational economy Structural volatility and
unpredictability in work demands
Rapid and discontinuous change in requirements for work
Human reflexivity (innovation) critical for competitive success
Def: Actual activities people do at work, including skills, information, knowledge, tools, technology, and social relations.
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EMPLOYMENT
Industrial economy
‘Standard’ employment Long-term, full-
time, year round, one-to-one
Taylorist management
Informational economy
Individualization of employment
Mediated employment
Mediated and self-directed management
Def: Relationship between employer and employee including compensation and management systems
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TIME (of labor process)
Industrial economy Economic time shaped by
continuous, relatively predictable growth trajectories and cyclical downturns
Institutional framework enabled separation between work/non-work times, and human-time enabling labor processes
Informational economy Economic time shaped by
lumpy, discontinuous, unpredictable, FAST and volatile production cycles
Career trajectories more multi-institutional and discontinuous
Work/non-work times increasingly blurred
Def: Temporal dimensions of human activity and social relations in the labor process (events, sequence, speed, cycles).
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Analyzing the labor process
FIRMS
Labor Process W
ORKERS
THE STATEInfrastructure, Regulation and Enforcement
(Scale)
Dynamics of Competition
& Cooperation(Sector,
Territory, Networks,
Governance,…)
WT
E
S
Dynamics of Competition
& Cooperation(Race, ClassGender, Age,
NetworksTerritory,
Governance,…)
Labor Market Intermediaries
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SWET Analysis of Labor Process
Silicon Valley and Milwaukee labor markets Quality of intermediaries in career outcomes Guilds as soft-infrastructure in innovation Regional leadership and governance
South Africa tele-mediated work Industry strategy versus job attraction Career ladders and upgrading
U.S. newspaper journalists and sales staff Disconnection between quality and revenue Hierarchical management and stagnation Transferable skills and associate membership
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Job Crisis solution?
The old social compact Workplace compromise—work control versus
employment stability Nationalist Keynesianism—labor stability and
macro-economic demandNew social compact?
Must ensure economic growth and social stability Must solve dilemmas of multiple stakeholders Likely to emerge out of existing experimental
initiatives
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Globalized regions as the new workplace
Important spatial dimension of critical labor process activities Lifelong learning and innovation Untraded inter-dependencies Production and social reproduction
U.S. metros: 84% of population, 91% of GDP
Regional innovation systems around the globe
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Workplace (regional) governance
Employer associations shaping collective work processes Innovation systems Social and physical infrastructure
investment Quality of life initiatives/creative class
Some public sector engagement Public/private partnerships Governance collaboration
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Regional worker organizations…
Building power in the regional labor market, in both formal and informal ways
Face serious challenges in reaching truly disadvantaged workers
Limited power and bargaining ability
Guild-like structures: Building stability through regional, occupationally-
based communities Improving employment outcomes through building
common mobility channels
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Regional unionism—SBCLC/Working Partnerships Community/social movement unionism focused on region Social reproduction
Health Care Housing Public Investment
Governance Labor Community Leadership Institute Boards, commissions, elected officials Agenda, not individuals
Regional worker organizations…
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Many other examples around the country
WRTP-PEO LAANE “Building a City of
Justice” Denver/FRESC Georgia STAND-UP ……
Regional worker organizations…
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Community unionism and workers centers
Community-based and community-led organizations that engage in a combination of service, advocacy, and organizing to provide support to low-wage workers.
Regional worker organizations…
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Stock-options and residualsIndividual wage versus social wage
Problems of socialized work and individualized employment
Need to focus on livelihoods, not jobs Single-payer universal health Pension reform Life-long learning—e.g. LILAs
Skills mismatch or institutional failure? Re-employment insurance Restructure UI
New employment policies and practices…?
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What’s space got to do with it?
The notion of a ‘job’ is an a-spatial, static conception that hinders our ability to promote economic innovation or social well-being
Spatio-temporal analysis pushes us instead to think about promoting community-based careers in the regional workplace, with win-win-win opportunities
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Thank you!!