[lbo-talk] Zizek: "Where to look for revolutionary potential?"

Yoshie Furuhashi critical.montages at gmail.com
Sat Mar 17 18:21:23 PDT 2007


On 3/17/07, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> Yeah, except the proles are the motor of the capitalist system;
> without their labor, the whole thing would collapse. Without the slum
> dwellers, what?

Urban revolts and revolutions happen through mass demonstrations and direct actions in the streets, of which strikes are a part but not the main event (cf. the Iranian Revolution, the Gas Wars of Bolivia). If you live in the South and have a regular job in the formal sector, public or private, you are most likely in the top 10-30% of the population, depending on countries. The rest of the workforce have jobs in the informal sector or rural agricultural areas, and the rest of the population are unemployed or underemployed. In short, you are among the elite of the country and have a lot to lose, especially relative to those below you, so you are unlikely to be on the cutting edge of any revolutionary change that seeks to radically improve the lot of the poorer 70-90%. Depending on your union leadership, you may find yourself among the force of neoliberal reaction against a populist government. If you join any revolution of the Left at all, you are more likely to be in the rearguard than the vanguard. You leave work to join the masses outside from behind.

<http://www.global-labour.org/trade_unions_and_the_informal_sector_wiego.htm> Global Labour Institute Notes on Trade Unions and the Informal Sector

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SIZE OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR

INFORMAL LATIN AFRICA ASIA SECTOR AMERICA SHARE CARIBBEAN OF

Total 15% 18% 15-30% employment excluding agriculture

Total 45% 75% 75-85% employment including agriculture

Non- 57% 78% 45-85% agricultural employment

Urban 40% 61% 40-60% employment

Poor 50% NA NA employment

New jobs 84% 93% NA

LOW- MIDDLE- HIGH-

INCOME INCOME INCOME

COUNTRIES COUNTRIES COUNTRIES

Total 80% 40% 15% employment outside formal sector

-- Yoshie



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