THE DOWNWARD MARCH OF LABOR HALTED? THE CRISIS OF NEOLIBERAL CAPITALISM AND THE REMAKING OF WORKING CLASSES

This article raises the question whether riots, protests, and strikes in the aftermath of the Euro-crisis mark a turn from moving backwards to moving forward for labor movements. An answer to this question is developed by disentangling the unmaking and remaking of working classes in the Euro-zone countries. The analysis of their unmaking draws on Beverly Silver's work and shows how technological and organization reorganization and relocations from the 1980s until the present weakened workers' bargaining power and political representation and tore apart the social fabric that had been crucial for the reproduction of class identities even during the period of institutionalized class conflict. The analysis of the remaking of working classes points at fragmented articulations of discontent, which also include the rise of right-wing populism, as parts of a learning process that might eventually lead to the constitution of classes as collective agents of change. This analysis draws on E.P. Thompson's interpretation of the "original making" of working classes but extends his focus on England to the broader European sphere and the consideration of workers' responses to economic crises. Theoretical guidance for these last two aspects comes from Rosa Luxemburg's economic and political writings.