Globalizing Social Welfare and Labor Markets in East and Southeast Asia

The current neo-liberal regime of global accumulation has aimed at transforming internal industrial divisions of labor from being part of a national structure of accumulation to becoming a component element in the international division of labor and accumulation process in the world economy. The contradiction that thus arises is whether capital accumulation is embedded in the national economy to the benefit of society or serves the interests of external actors and interests as well as internal comprador elements.

In recent times, due to various evolutions, the United States and the European Union have experienced social pressures for restricting the workings of globalization: The first is the fear of job losses through the mechanisms of outsourcing and imports of cheapers industrial products. The second is the anxiety of ethnic and cultural dilution due to the emergence of new patters of labor migration and the reconfiguration of labor markets where the twin-effect of flexibility and informalization affects both society and politics.

This situation is to a lesser degree mirrored in East and Southeast Asia where the question is whether the challenges of globalization will lead to a new social compact where state, capital and workers negotiate for the promotion of national development and the creation of a civil society which might minimize the adverse effects of globalization!

This paper explores the impact of neo-liberal globalization on labor markets and social welfare in East and Southeast Asia. It draws upon recent debates in the framework of comparative political economy over the impact of neo-liberal globalization on labor market regulation and social welfare adjustment. The focus is on the radical change of work arrangements with an accompanying loss of the social relevance of the work place and of labour-based social organisations. Another aspect is the extent of so-called "a-typical" work such as part time employment and fixed term contracts. A third impact is the overall change of social welfare from a cohesive compact to a more loose type of organization.