노동시장 분절화 이론에 관한 검토

Labor market is not a fixed entity, but a social construct shaped through the conflicts and compromises of social groups including the parties to employment relationships. Labor market segmentation is also a product of the contestation and intersection of social forces operating in different institutional spheres of society including employment relations. The discursive landscape of labor market segmentation has changed, and in recent years, mainstream discourse has taken over the term segmentation and promoted so-called labor market reforms such as reductions in employment protection, in the name of justice. This paper reviews the main theories on labor market segmentation and outlines the changes in the theoretical landscape. It reviews dual labor market theory, ‘radical approach’, insider-outsider theory, and works of IWPLMS. Simple dichotomies such as primary versus secondary labor markets and insiders versus outsiders do not capture complexities of labor market segmentation and its evolution as a result of the interplay of multiple social factors and forces. Approaches based on market utopia or competitive labor market model are not useful for academic researches to labor market segmentations as social realities. An academic analysis of labor market segmentations requires a dynamic and layered approach that takes into account the interrelatedness of different institutions, and their unique operation in contemporary societies, along with an analysis of the role of the state, employers, and unions.