Labor Market Dualization and Insider–Outsider Divides: Why This New Conflict Matters
| Author | Hanna Schwander |
| Published date | 01 February 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929918790872 |
| Date | 01 February 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929918790872
Political Studies Review
2019, Vol. 17(1) 14 –29
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929918790872
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Labor Market Dualization
and Insider–Outsider
Divides: Why This New
Conflict Matters
Hanna Schwander
Abstract
Reflecting the importance of inequality for individuals’ lives, the implications of labor market
inequality for core elements of democracy are crucial topics in comparative politics and
comparative political economy. This article critically reviews the main findings of the emerging
literature on insider–outsider divides to highlight its possible contributions to adjacent fields,
in particular the research on party politics, the literatures on economic voting, political
participation, and democratic representation or the study of social movements. The conflict
between labor market insiders and outsiders demonstrates that in today’s societies with their
diversified risk structure and sophisticated welfare states, distributive conflicts are about
specific social and regulatory policies that have different implications for individuals depending
on their situation on the labor market. By drawing our attention to new divides within the
social democratic electorate, the insider–outsider literature reveals an additional argument
why the social democratic parties find it hard to mobilize their voters and to win elections.
Moreover, the insider–outsider literature can help to bring the economic dimension of politics
back to the study of social movements and to light on the relationship between contentious
and conventional politics.
Keywords
labor market risks, insider–outsider divides, political consequences, political parties, political
behavior
Accepted: 5 July 2018
Introduction
The extent to which today’s societies are divided into “those at the top” and “those at the
bottom” has reached alarming levels. Indeed, the divide of the workforce in insiders that
are sheltered from labor market risks and an exposed segment of outsiders—called labor
Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany
Corresponding author:
Hanna Schwander, Hertie School of Governance, Friedrichstrasse 180, DE-10117 Berlin, Germany.
Email: schwander@hertie-school.org
790872PSW0010.1177/1478929918790872Political Studies ReviewSchwander
research-article2018
Article
Schwander 15
market dualization—is a trend that we observe in advanced industrial societies since the
1980s (Emmenegger et al., 2012b; Palier and Thelen, 2010; Rueda, 2007; Saint-Paul,
2002a). Perhaps not surprisingly, this growing relevance is reflected in an increasing
interest of comparative political economy and political sociology in issues of labor mar-
ket dualization, it origins, and consequences for individuals as well as the implications of
insider–outsider divides for core elements of democracy such as preference formation,
political participation, representation, and political competition. Figure 1 illustrates this
growing interest by displaying the number of publications on these issues in general (light
gray) and field journals (dark gray) from 2003 to 2017.
Yet, to date, the insights of this literature have found little echo in party research and
research on political participation which focuses on transformations in the socio-cultural
dimension of politics (Bornschier, 2010; Hooghe and Marks, 2004; Kitschelt and
McGann, 1995; Kriesi, 1998; Kriesi et al., 2008; Polk and Jan, 2018; Walder, 2009). By
critically reviewing the main findings of the recent literature on labor market dualization
and insider–outsider divides and highlighting its relevance for adjacent fields, this article
draws the attention of scholars on party politics, party competition, political participation,
and political representation, to a new distributive conflict that has the potential to trans-
form politics.
Labor market dualization challenges traditional understandings of social democratic
parties as representatives of the working class and champions of the welfare state in
Figure 1. Publications on Dualization and Insider–Outsider from 2003 to 2017.
General journals: American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political
Science, Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Politics, European Political
Science Review.
Field journals: Socio-Economic Review, Journal of European Social Policy, European Journal of Industrial Relations.
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