The rising invisible majority. Bringing society back into international political economy

Ferragina, E., Arrigoni, A. and Spreckelsen, T. F. (2022) The rising invisible majority. Bringing society back into international political economy. Review of International Political Economy, 29(1), pp. 114-151. (doi: 10.1080/09692290.2020.1797853)

Abstract

The paper develops the concept of a rising invisible majority and explores the interconnections between the political economy context and the changing composition of European society. The concept illustrates how the transition from the Fordist to the neoliberal phase of capitalism is leading to a similar – if differently paced – transformation of the social composition across Europe. The material basis of the ‘invisibility’ manifests itself in a structural increase of unemployment, labour market precarization, and poverty. ‘Invisibility’ makes growing segments of the population less likely to participate in the institutions that regulate social life, while mainstream parties and trade unions no longer represent them adequately in the public arena. We suggest this trend will continue, and eventually concern a majority of the population, unless the neoliberal mechanisms of regulation are slowed or reversed. Enriching Polanyi’s double movement logic, we hypothesise the existence of feedback effects from this transformation of the social composition to the political economy context that could lead to countermovements. Our reasoning is systematised in an analytical framework, complemented with a historical analysis of the Italian case, and a quantitative measurement of the magnitude of this transformation across 14 European countries.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by a public grant overseen by the French National Research Agency (ANR) as part of the ‘Investissements d’Avenir’ program LIEPP (reference: ANR- 11-LABX-0091, ANR-11-IDEX-0005-02).
• Keywords: Inequality, neoliberalism, political economy, unemployment, precarity, welfare state.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Spreckelsen, Dr Thees
• Authors: Ferragina, E., Arrigoni, A., and Spreckelsen, T. F.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions; H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform; J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe)
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: Review of International Political Economy
• Journal Abbr.: RRIP
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0969-2290
• ISSN (Online): 1466-4526
• Published Online: 30 July 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Review of International Political Economy 29(1): 114-151
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher