Empowering Labor
Leftist Approaches to Wage Policy in Unequal Democracies

Theorizes about the underlying political dynamics that shape the use of wage policy as a pre-distributive instrument of leftist governments.

Juan A. Bogliaccini (Author)

9781009433525, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 March 2024

240 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

'This is a terrific book. In his thoroughgoing effort to understand the underpinnings and viability of pre-distributive strategies in peripheral Europe and Latin America, Juan Bogliaccini makes invaluable contributions to the literatures on inequality, labor, and late development - and demonstrates the value of work that transcends region, discipline, and theoretical perspective.' Andrew Schrank, Olive C. Watson Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs, Brown University

Empowering Labor uses a comparative study of Chile, Portugal, and Uruguay to analyze the underlying political dynamics that shape the use of wage policy as a pre-distributive instrument of leftist parties in power in unequal democracies. The book theorizes that the unity of the Left and labor's political legitimacy are two main drivers for relating on wage policy as a pre-distributive instrument for promoting inclusion. These factors are shaped by elite long-term strategies towards labor. Such strategies, when dominant for long-enough periods, create path dependency, shaping differential opportunities for further options down the road. The book integrates large-scale historical processes with frequently analyzed short-term and agency-based factors to elucidate variation in the crafting of wage policies and reshapes the debate on the politics of pre-distribution in unequal democracies by situating the cases in a longer historical arc.

Introduction
1. Use of Wage Policy for Pre-Distribution
2. Elite Strategies Toward Labor, Left Unity, and Wage Policy
3. The Modeling of Elite Strategies toward Labor
4. The Unity of the Left and Adaptation of Elite Strategies
5. The Usage of Wage Policy for Pre-Distribution
6. Conclusions
Appendix: Documentary Sources and Interviews.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB]