Essential jobs and global inequalities

In this presentation, Prof. Zanoni focusses on “essential jobs” – in care, education, food production and distribution, transport and logistics, safety, etc. – which have been at the centre of debate since the Covid-19 pandemic. Why are these jobs essential? Who carries them out? How are these jobs and these workers valued? Essential jobs interrogate common understanding of the globalized market economy. They show how such understanding hides much of the work necessary to produce and distribute the goods and services in our societies and undervalues the work carried out by more vulnerable workers. They also reveal how inequality is reproduced between the Global North and the Global South. A broader understanding of the economy is key to demand better working conditions, remuneration and social protection for workers in jobs that are essential to our livelihoods.