Social involution? : The impact of economic restructuring on the working class in Zambia
Date
2008-11-24T12:38:47Z
Authors
Chembe, Martin David
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Abstract
Countries in southern Africa have been implementing economic liberalisation policies for
over two decades, with the aim of reversing years of economic decline. This process of
economic liberalisation has been largely been influenced by the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the World Bank policy prescription. While the developed world has been
piling pressure on countries in the Sub-Saharan region to integrate their national
economies into the global economic, different countries have responded differently in
opening up their economies. For some, the new economic policy regime has entailed a
shift from a state-run economy and focusing more on a free market economy. While
some countries have taken a cautious approaching to economic liberalisation, Zambia
went for rapid liberalisation, which has led to negative social consequences on
employment and the livelihoods of the working class. Through the adoption and
implementation of labour market flexibility policies, Zambia and other countries in the
region have seen an upswing in new forms of employment such as casual labour, subcontracting
and temporary employment, which have no protection and have exposed
workers to exploitation. Employment levels have also dropped as the capitalist investors
shed off massive numbers of workers in order to reduce labour costs. Local
manufacturing industries, in most cases, have been forced to close down and lay-off
workers due to unfair competition with cheap imported goods. Liberalisation in
developing countries in general and southern Africa in particular, has entailed weakening
the role of the state in national economic management. Governments are increasingly
succumbing to the dictates of multinationals and are failing to enforce regulatory
measures needed to protect the welfare of workers and their working conditions.
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Keywords
Zambia, liberalization, social involution, structural adjustment, privatization, Karl Polanyi, Southern Africa