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Contingent Work and Its Contradictions: Towards a Moral Economy Framework

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  • Sharon Bolton
  • Maeve Houlihan
  • Knut Laaser
Abstract
This article proposes the lens of moral economy as a useful ethical framework through which to assess HRM practice, with a particular focus on the strategic use of contingent work (‘non-standard’ employment practices including temporary, agency and outsourced work). While contingent work practices have a variety of impetuses we focus here on their strategic use in the pursuit of economic and flexibility goals. A review of the contingent work literature conveys mixed messages about its outcomes for individuals, and more opaquely, for organisations: on the one hand transferring risks yet on the other, creating opportunities. A moral economy lens views employment as a relationship rooted in a web of social dependencies, and considers that ‘thick’ relations produce valuable ethical surpluses that represent mutuality and human flourishing. Applying such an approach to the analysis of contingent work enables a fresh interpretation of contradictory individual and collective outcomes observed in the research literature. We suggest that evaluations informed by moral economy offer a more holistic appraisal of HRM practices such as contingent work, where both economic and social opportunities and costs can be more fully seen. In this way we not only highlight the ethical inadequacies of neglecting the human in HRM but also the conceptual pitfalls of analytically separating the economic from the social. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Sharon Bolton & Maeve Houlihan & Knut Laaser, 2012. "Contingent Work and Its Contradictions: Towards a Moral Economy Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 121-132, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:111:y:2012:i:1:p:121-132
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1439-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Streeck, Wolfgang, 2008. "Flexible markets, stable societies?," MPIfG Working Paper 08/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Michael D. S. Morris & Alexander Vekker, 2001. "An Alternative Look at Temporary Workers, Their Choices, and the Growth in Temporary Employment," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 22(2), pages 373-390, April.
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    6. Luuk Knippenberg & Edwin Jong, 2010. "Moralising the Market by Moralising the Firm," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(1), pages 17-31, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stéphanie Arnaud & David Wasieleski, 2014. "Corporate Humanistic Responsibility: Social Performance Through Managerial Discretion of the HRM," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 313-334, March.
    2. Charles Umney, 2017. "Moral economy, intermediaries and intensified competition in the labour market for function musicians," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 834-850, October.
    3. Anastasios Hadjisolomou & Sam Simone, 2021. "Profit over People? Evaluating Morality on the Front Line during the COVID-19 Crisis: A Front-Line Service Manager’s Confession and Regrets," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(2), pages 396-405, April.
    4. Ozlem Sandikci, 2021. "Religion and Everyday Consumption Ethics: A Moral Economy Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(2), pages 277-293, January.
    5. Ana Alacovska & Joëlle Bissonnette, 2021. "Care-ful Work: An Ethics of Care Approach to Contingent Labour in the Creative Industries," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 135-151, February.
    6. Ernesto Noronha & Saikat Chakraborty & Premilla D’Cruz, 2020. "‘Doing Dignity Work’: Indian Security Guards’ Interface with Precariousness," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 553-575, March.
    7. Emma Hughes & Tony Dobbins & Doris Merkl-Davies, 2022. "Moral economy, solidarity and labour process struggle in Irish public transport," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 146-167, February.

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