"I am convinced that the crisis riesploderà soon because
structural causes of the crisis have not been addressed." Richard Sennett ,
scholar of the new capitalism and flexible labor
born in Chicago in 1943 and professor emeritus of sociology at the London School of Economics
, argues that the crisis has led to a worsening of
uncertainty and labor flexible scope
by neoliberalism. In this situation, the left is right in moderation prey
when they were needed
radical solutions such as the nationalization of the banking system. According to Sennett of which were published in Italy in
Culture of the New Capitalism,
The Corrosion and finally The Craftsman, the
way out of the crisis could be a return to the manufacturing front on which
The Italian economy may provide a model for the European economy.
* Governments and employers argue that we are out of the crisis. Yet
economies slow to recover and unemployment continues to increase
. We must believe in these sirens?
* The majority of European governments have introduced measures to read
limit the financial capital, but have not understood this and that '
activity that is inherently destructive, ruining companies,
that destroys jobs, and you can not just put the brakes
. Even if Europe has dragged on for three or four years
the crisis will happen 'again. And I think that next time Europe will have
'even less scope for recovery. We are at risk of becoming what
that Latin America was during the '60s,
a continent with many resources, but absolutely self-destructive.
* The flexible workers you describe in your books were the intended victims
of this crisis, the first to be sacrificed by
layoffs. We are facing a structural crisis of the model
flexible labor? *
Certainly flexible workers, who were the vanguard of
new capitalism, workers in hi-tech industries,
cultural industries and finance, have suffered in
a particular consequences of the crisis. But what we are seeing is' rather
un'estremizzazone system of flexible working. From a structural point of view
it more 'impressive
crisis that has expanded the area of \u200b\u200bpart-time job. And that part-time job has been filled by workers who
were previously employed full time.
These include jobs in the service sector, in
supermarkets, department stores, but also in newspapers and
cultural industries.
* The other main victims are young people, who today more than ever
compensate for the inefficiency of the system .*
We are entering a lost decade for young people, and we
a lost generation. Japan has had a foreshadowing
during the '90s of what would have happened 12 or 15 years later
in the West. Finance collapsing.
not find qualified people who work for 6 or 8 years. People who will never return more
' lavorare. Persone che hanno perso un decennio della loro vita. La
generazione che e’venuta dopo ha visto come era la situazione, ed in
molti hanno scelto scuole tecniche piuttosto che l’università. Una
volta tutti cercavano di entrare nelle università prestigiose. Gli
adolescenti giapponesi ora sono molto piu’ realistici. Ed è quello
che succederà da noi. L’Università di Venezia non avrà più
migliaia di studenti di architettura. La nuova generazione è fregata
dal sistema e dovrà inventarsi nuovi modi per sopravvivere.
*Il capitalismo finanziario è in crisi, ma i sentimenti della gente
sembrano essere riassunti bene da una
cartoon appeared in the last number of The Economist where a crowd of
capitalism encourages the locomotive puffing uphill
.* This confidence is due to the fact that the system has encouraged people to believe
is that there is more social mobility in this
flexible capitalism. But the statistics suggest a
opposite. In the 50s and 60s, which are idenfiticati
with a sclerotic and bureaucratic capitalism, the rates of mobility to
up for the working class and middle class were far more
higher than those of the '90s. And the reason is structural. In a capitalist system
Financial
basically squeeze the middle classes. Saskia Sassen [companion Sennett, a sociologist and urban
ndr] has returned from China last week and told me that this is really interesting
the situation there is that the Chinese
want to become middle class, but what they see is that
the promise of mobility 'is not realized by the system, and that's why there are so many protests when
among Chinese workers.
* Despite the fact that the suffering of workers, trade unions
not seem to be able to react adequately to the wave of cuts. And
'This is the result of the individualisation Workforce
sown during the golden age of neoliberalism?
* The lack of collective responses to the crisis and '
exactly due to the uncertainty in which they are made
workers in recent years. Unions now are wondering how come all of a sudden but not
we can mobilize these people. But the answer is clear.
These workers can not afford to strike, 'cause if
strike will have no protection. They are in a state
incredibly insecure when they can not raise his head.
* Not only the unions but also the Left parties seem unable to grasp the challenge of
crisis. So in Britain as in Germany have been elected executive
liberal-conservatives, who continue to support the verb
of neoliberalism
.* I think that with regard to the left, we had 50 years in
we tried to show that we do not we are like those bad guys
Stalinists, so that we are people who are friends of
business, we want to be part of the modern world.
were addressed in the past fifty years. Confronted with a destructive system
the left has nothing to say to the workers.
recently been to a meeting with the unions before the election, and I have
asked me what would you do? I replied that if it was for me to nationalize
l’intero sistema bancario. Penso che bisognerebbe
trattare il sistema finanziario nello stesso modo in cui si tratta la
salute. Una cosa che richiede il controllo dello stato. E ho visto
questi membri del sindacato, e ripeto membri del sindacato che mi
dicevano – non si possono dire queste cose! Abbiamo bisogno di dare
una risposta molto piu’ radicale a quello che sta succedendo. Dobbiamo
abbandonare le pretese di socialdemocrazia. Si continua a voler dare
ai lavoratori un paio di protezioni in piu’, o due spiccioli in piu’
invece che modificare veramente il sistema economico. Dobbiamo tornare
a parlare di socialismo altrimenti la gente non ci capisce.
Come out of the crisis? As a production model? In Britain
and 'made a lot of talk of a return to the manufacturing sector as
antidote to the crisis in the financial system. This and 'the rest of the
solution that you suggest in your book, The Craftsman.
Here in Britain have talked about for the last two years, but not
have never created any programs to encourage young people to become artisans
. It was an interesting idea but they do not and '
done nothing. I believe that the manufacturing sector provides a way
output. It is not just a romantic confidence in man
craftsman. It 's the story of the economic success of China or
Japan. It is back to producing things, producing things that other people need
. In this sense, in Italy you have a
high-tech production system that can 'find a way out of this situation
. Irony in Italy, as elsewhere, these
manufacturing firms which are really profits, which are on the market
and employ many people but they are the kind that make
difficult to obtain credit. This is' a clear demonstration of the folly of
system.
