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Rearticulating Globalization, Solidarities and Work in Ethiopia

By Constance Perrin-Joly

In the spring of 2020, the coronavirus in Africa seems to be shaping up more as a social and economic crisis than as a health crisis, due to early measures decided by the governments, such as border closures. These measures have raised new awareness about the risks of globalization. Globalization, however, should not be seen solely as a problem. We might rather consider that other forms of globalization that are more inclusive, more social, and more democratic can be promoted in the future.  

Admittedly, globalization has shown its limits in Ethiopia, as the country is highly dependent on international trade. The prices of basic necessities have risen while workers’ incomes are likely to fall. The Corona crisis highlights the vulnerability of workers in the urban and rural informal sector and the sector of daily work: with the implementation of social distancing measures and the restrictions imposed on public transport, the number of potential customers for the small craftsmen and street traders decreases; and with the slowdown of the economy, the demand for day laborers is falling.

As the crisis affects the entire population, local and family solidarity, and self-help associations, which are traditional strong supports in Ethiopia, are likely to be undermined when the number of those who need assistance increases in proportion to the decline in the number of those able to provide it. Wage labor, growing in labor-intensive sectors such as the garment and floriculture industries, can provide more, but not enough social security, because of the low wages offered by national and foreign investors – for example, Ethiopians working on huge farms or in huge factories to produce for low-cost export, as well as those migrating to the Middle East to provide domestic work feed the international delegation of dirty work”.

However, globalization should not be seen only as the source of these problems, but also as part of a solution strategy. Certain sectors like international tourism and high-end crafts for export offering top-of-the-range services or products to a more affluent clientele from the Global North should be urged to pass on the benefits of their lucrative activity to employees, small suppliers (like craftsmen), and the surrounding communities. In the context of a crisis like the Corona pandemic, these locally embedded companies are also in a better position to support their partners and workers.

If these locally anchored companies use their market force and their knowledge of local specificities and needs to integrate more of a social mission in their company strategies, paying attention to working conditions, good wages, and above all workers’ participation, then an enviable future for the quality of work can be envisaged, even under the conditions of globalization.

This text is part of the #DossierCorona thread #workingfutures and was first published as part of the series “Wiko Briefs – Working Futures in Corona Times” of the Working Futures Network at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. The authors are members of the transnational network “Working Futures” or Fellows of the Wissenschaftskolleg.


Constance Perrin-Joly is a sociologist and Senior Lecturer at the University Sorbonne Paris Nord and a member of the “Working Futures” Network at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.


Further articles in the thread #workingfutures of the #DossierCorona on TRAFO:

Introducing #DossierCorona #workingfutures, 14 May 2020.

Lisa Herzog, How Can We Strengthen the Contributory Logic of Work?, 14 May 2020.

Martin Krzywdzinski, The COVID 19 crisis accelerates structural change in the world of work, 15 May 2020.

Elena Esposito, The Need for De-Integration in Pandemic Times, 18 May 2020.

Dirk Helbing, The Corona Crisis Reveals the Struggle for a Sustainable Digital Future, 21 May 2020.

Laure de Verdalle, “Useful”, “Indispensable”, “Essential”: Is the Health Crisis Changing the Categories With Which We Consider Professional Activities?, 25 May 2020.

Jürgen Kocka, How Does the Corona Crisis Affect the Future of Work and Our View of It?, 28 May 2020.

Bénédicte Zimmermann, Caring About What We Hold Dear and the Final Purposes of Work, 1 June 2020.

Michel Lallement, The Crisis as Beginning of a New Relationship to the Professional World?, 8 June 2020.

David Stark, Who or What Is Being Tested in Pandemic Times?, 11 June 2020.

Bruce Kogut, Covid and Looking for the Exit, 15 June 2020.

Sasha Disko, The End of the Pandemic of Productivism?, 18 June 2020.

Felix Sieker and Anke Hassel, The Future of Shopping: Corona as a Catalyst for the Transformation of Work, 22 June 2020.


Citation: Constance Perrin-Joly, Rearticulating Globalization, Solidarities and Work in Ethiopia, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 26.06.2020, https://trafo.hypotheses.org/24369.


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Editorial Board (June 26, 2020). Rearticulating Globalization, Solidarities and Work in Ethiopia. TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. Retrieved March 24, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/usx8


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