This blog draws from our Podcast with Guy Standing and the panel discussions Dezentrum member Flurin was invited to in November.
Labor defines our everyday life. Most mornings, most of us commute to their offices in order to carry out an activity that is defined by the transfer of a wage to a bank account once a month. Now the question arises, whether jobs as we know them are a consequence of the human condition - basically the 21th century version of hunting and gathering - or rather a concept generated by the economic system we live in? What is “work” really and how does this concept influence society?
Guy Standing draws a grim picture of the events that shaped the status quo. Over the past decades a chicago-influenced era of neoliberalism has promoted an idea of the “free” market, that in reality turned out to be not free at all. In fact, he argues, the market is dominated by a few corporations with extensive influence. This situation is accentuated by digitalization and the effects it has on globalisation. As it becomes easier to relocate facilities, enterprises cannot only put pressure on taxes but also on wages. Suddenly workers compete on a global scale. These two factors combined, lead to a further increase in return for capital owners, while wages continue to decrease. Leading to more inequality.
At the same time we witness the rise of new forms of work due to digitalisation: Some jobs can be done entirely online, without the need of being physically present. But digitalisation not only has an impact on the execution of individual jobs, it is also increasingly changing the ways in which our economic system works. All over the planet, cities witness the emergence of platform capitalism and thriving gig economy enterprises. Considering the pace of technological progress, even more fundamental changes of labor are to be expected. Recent predictions estimate that as much as 65 percent of the children now in school, will be doing jobs that do not exist yet: How are we going to work in the future? How to exhaust the opportunities of digitalisation while mitigating the risks? As new branches of work appear, traditional ones are disappearing. Some fear collective layoffs similar to the ones subsequent to the Industrial Revolution.
In short, as societies we face challenges when it comes to the distribution of wealth and its effects, which could be even further aggravated by digitalisation. Yet, these challenges pave the way for solutions that have been considered too radical for a long time.
Such as the universal basic income.
Guy Standing has been advocating in favor of a universal basic income for several decades now. He has conducted various pilots and the results were overwhelmingly positive, improving both health and nutrition values, but also the status of women and disabled persons.
Considering the above mentioned predictions on labor market changes, a universal basic income could offer a potential mitigation of these effects. While young people are able to adapt to these new demands, adaption is considerably more difficult for older employees. In other words, automation and its rationalising effects leave the elderly workforce especially vulnerable as they are less flexible. In order to be fit for new jobs, new skill sets have to be acquired, which not only takes time but also financial resources that could be provided by a universal basic income.
Furthermore, the effects of a universal basic income could be even broader: It could reconceptualize work as we know it. The common conception of work is that it equals labor, in other words, only if it generates a wage by a patron it is understood as such. And gaining a wage is understood as one of the most crucial elements of being part of society. But this understanding of work is too narrow. Not only does it impede the realization of any creative activity, it neglects the importance of unpaid labor such as child care or housekeeping.
According to Guy Standing a universal basic income could unlink work and wage. Mitigating financial pressure, it could enhance the status of all the activities vital for society that do not generate direct economic revenue. It thus has the potential to enhance the overall freedom of the population in several ways: not only does it make the romantic ideal of having the opportunity to do what one likes more probable, but it also gives citizens the freedom of not having to submit to exploitative work conditions. This freedom can be applied to private relations as well, allowing otherwise financially dependent family members to act more autonomously.
In the end, to what extent digitalisation is going to reshape our economic and social system is yet unknown. Will the mass of traditional jobs made redundant by digitalisation be balanced by emerging branches? Or will artificial intelligence soon produce a GDP, that, if properly redistributed, generates a decent living for each member of society? Is a universal basic income a measure to mitigate a period of change, or the final stage of this change?
In other words, is the future of work not having to work at all?