One Question is a regular series in which we ask leading thinkers to give a brief answer to a single question. This time, in the midst of economic and healthcare crises triggered by coronavirus, we ask:

How has the COVID-19 pandemic exposed inherent flaws in the capitalist system?

By Cihan Aksan And Jon Bailes

Dario Azzellini: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only exposed inherent flaws in the capitalist system, it is clearly showing that the question is capitalism or life.

Online platforms have disrupted parts of the capitalist economy, with allegedly severe consequences in the world of work. This study examines live music in Germany and the UK, where online platforms do not dominate, despite considerable digitalization of market intermediaries. The analysis shows that, as the degree of digitalization increases, matching services tend to work less as a workers representative which is traditionally the case for live music agents and more as a force of marketization that disciplines workers by orchestrating price-based competition.

Dario azzellini, Profesor del Departamento de Sociología del Desarrollo, Universidad de Cornell (Ithaca). Su publicación más recientes es Luchas obreras en el siglo XXI (Brill / Haymarket, 2018)

Una característica comuna de cada situació de crisi, des dels aixecaments de principis del segle XX fins a les reestructuracions neoliberals de la fi d'aquest  mateix  segle, és l'aparició del control obrer: els obrers s'organitzen per fer-se càrrec dels seus llocs de treball  per tal de  defensar els seus llocs de treball i les seves comunitats.

Una característica común de cada situación de crisis, desde los levantamientos de principios del siglo XX hasta las reestructuraciones neoliberales de finales de ese mismo siglo, es la aparición del control obrero: los obreros se organizan para hacerse cargo de sus lugares de trabajo con el fin de defender sus puestos de trabajo y sus comunidades.

A common feature in every crisis situation, from the upheavals of the early 20th century to the neo-liberal re-structurings of the late 20th century, is the emergence of workers’ control – workers organising to take over their workplaces in order to defend their jobs and their communities.