Why Some People Are More Unemployed than Others by Göran Therborn

Review by: J. D. House

The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Summer,
1988), pp. 348-349
Published by: Canadian Journal of Sociology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3340870 .
Accessed: 14/06/2014 09:02

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Canadian Journal of Sociology is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The
Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.22 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 09:02:23 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
up to?"Thesechaptersseemto pusheverclosertowardtheconclusionthatoccupational
cognitionis too complexto be described.Fourpagesof Chapter12centreonthe"inferred
belief system"of a single survey respondent.And yet, in North America at least,
researcherswill continueto need a summaryscale representingthe non-neo-Marxian
socialclassaspectsof socialinequality.ReadingImagesofSocialStratificationis enough
to send one despairinglyback to the manual/non-manual distinction,or to abandon
occupation as an index of equalityaltogether,in favourof income.
In short,the book is original,clever, and sophisticated,deservingthe attentionof
researchersinterestedin socialstratification.
Butit lackstheelegantparsimonyrequired
for the reallystrongimpactits authorsyearnfor.

Universityof Waterloo JohnGoyder

Goran Therborn, Why Some People Are More Unemployed than Others.
London: Verso, 1986, 181 pp., $8.95 US paper.
This is a fine book, the kind thatrevives faithin the importanceof soundsociological
researchandanalysis.Therbor combinestheprofoundsense of problemandcompara-
tive methodof theclassicalsociologistswithmoder statisticaltechniquesto exploreone
of the most importantand perplexingsocial problemsof our time, the rising level of
unemploymentin mostindustrialnations.Whilemakingit quiteclearwherehis political
preferenceslie (withsocialdemocracy),Therbomis carefulnotto allowtheseto biashis
findings,makingthis a model studyin "objective"sociologyin the bestmeaningof that
term.
Therbomsets out to exploreandexplainwhy it is thatsome OECDcountrieshave
managedto maintainlow unemploymentrates(less than5 percent)duringrecentyears,
while other countrieshave had their rates soar to levels not seen since the Great
Depression.Why do some countriesnow sufferfromhigh (morethan10 percent)and
apparentlyintractableunemploymentlevels, while othershavemanagedto keep unem-
ploymentlow evenduringtherecessionof theearly1980s?Thisis theimportantquestion
thatTherbor poses, andhe is convincingin his answers.
Thebookis as importantforthenumerousexplanations(tentativehypotheses)thatthe
authorexaminesmeticulouslyandthenrejectsas fortheexplanationshe accepts.Despite
political,economistic,andpopularmisconceptionsto thecontrary,unemploymentrates
in OECDcountriescannotbe explainedby any of the following:an inevitabletrendof
advancedcapitalism;therateof inflation;theshareof publicspendingin acountry'sgross
national product;labour costs; or the level of unemploymentcompensation.Most
interestingly,the nationalrateof unemploymentdoes not seem to be muchaffectedby
thepoliticalphilosophyof thepartyin power.Highunemploymentis foundundersocial
democraticgovernmentsin Belgiumandthe Netherlandsas well as underconservative
governmentsin Canadaand the United Kingdom.Of the five low unemployment
countries,two (SwedenandNorway)havehadmainlysocial democraticgovernments,
two (SwitzerlandandJapan)have been overtlycapitalistandmarket-oriented andthe
fifth (Austria)representssomethingof a mixedcase.
What, then, is the secret to low unemployment?Accordingto Therborn'shighly

348

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.22 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 09:02:23 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
plausibleanalysis,fourfactorsarecrucial.Thefirstis politicalandeconomicindepend-
ence.Allof thelowunemployment statesarefreetosettheirownpoliciesindependently.
It is intriguingto learnthatnonearemembersof theEuropean EconomicCommunity,
and,if theywere,manyof theirlowunemployment policieswouldnotbe permitted by
EECrules.Advocatesof Canadian freetradewiththeUnitedStatesshouldponderthis,
especiallyforacountrythatis alreadysodependent economically. Thesecondimportant
factoris simplynationalcommitment. Lowunemployment countriesexhibita strong
consensusabouttheimportance ofmaintaining employment fortheircitizens,andarenot
willingto sacrificethiscommitment to otherpolicygoals.TheUnitedKingdomis a
strongnegativeexamplehere.UnderHaroldWilson'sLabourgovernment employment
was sacrificedto a rearguard actionto protectthestrengthof theBritishpound,while
underMargaret Thatcher's Conservatives itis usedquiteovertlytodisciplinelabourand
promotecapitalaccumulation.
Commitment by itself,however,is notenough.Ithasto be putintoeffectthrougha
numberof institutional mechanisms forpromoting employment. Thesevaryfromstrict
labourforceandimmigration controlsin Switzerland, to statesubsidiesto employers in
Norway,toexpanding publicinvestment inJapan.Thisfourthfactoris inturndependent
on the fifth,the willingnessto use state intervention as neededin orderto protect
employment levels.
Therbom's bookhastwogreatstrengths. First,itusessoundsociologicalresearch and
analysisto destroya numberof popular myths,of boththepoliticalleftandthepolitical
right.Second,it showsthathigh unemployment is not inevitable,but is ratheran
economicandsocialproblemthatcanbe beatenby nationalcommitment andsound
policies.The book does not go as far as it mightin detailingwhatpolicies and
"institutionalmechanisms" areappropriate towhatcountries underwhatcircumstances.
Therbommakessome tantalizingobservations aboutCanada,for example.While
Canadais a highunemployment country,theduration of unemployment spellsis lessin
Canada thanformostotherOECDcountries. Therborn doesnotelucidatethereasonsfor
this,butit wouldbe hardlyfairto expectthathe would.ThisSwedishsociologistraises
manyissuescallingforfurtherinvestigation withinthemembercountries he considers.
Thereare severalchallengesfor Canadiansocial scientistsin this informativeand
stimulating book.
MemorialUniversity
of Newfoundland J.D.House

Howard Davis and Richard Scase, WesternCapitalismand State Socialism.

Oxford:Basil Blackwell, 1985, 202 pp. $18.75 paper.
Thepurposeof thisbook,we aretold,is to serveas a "briefintroduction to thestudyof
WesterncapitalistandEastEuropean statesocialistsocieties."It shouldbe saidatonce
thattheauthorshavefulfilledtheirpurposeadmirably well.Thisis indeedanexcellent
to thecomparative
introduction studyof thetwosocialsystems.Itis clearlywritten; it is
cogentlyandinterestinglypresented;andit includesa remarkable amountof relevant
information.
Thebookis in threeparts.Thefirstis concerned withthemainfeaturesof Western

349

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.22 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 09:02:23 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions