Tuesday, June 25, 2013
C2.17 (Oudemanhuispoort)
The acute crisis which is shaking the countries members of the European Union is transforming the “face” of the so called “Social Europe”. Austerity imperatives are asphyxiating entire societies and fostering dynamics of downgrading social mobility. The crisis’ context has had effects not only at the level of the institutional capacity to provide answer, but above all at the level of collective action and mobilization. The European context has lately been remarkably characterized by the emergence of new collective actors that exhibit distinguishable features both in what concerns the modes of action adopted and the detachment from the traditional institutional dynamics. Our proposal is to elaborate on how trade unionism and social movements – especially those constituted by precarious workers as well as the more spontaneous mobilizations aimed at the expression of indignation and refusal of the austerity programs – can interact in this context. There is some evidence of reciprocal recognition of the capacity displayed in what concerns pressuring governmental powers. On one hand, trade unionism can no longer ignore these spontaneous movements’ capacity of mobilization as one of the strongest issues at stake is the expansion of precarity and its effects on labour, and it has certainly something to learn from it. On the other hand, the more spontaneous or informal movements cannot, or should not, ignore trade union’s historical role and capacity of institutional action. In this work we will elaborate on and explore the Portuguese case, which is one of intense mobilization concerning precarity, labour relations and the austerity programs.
