Labour Perspectives on the New Politics of Skill and Competency Formation: International Reflections

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda

Examines labour-oriented critiques of skill and competency approaches used in workplace and economic policy across advanced capitalist countries. Reviews sociological work literature to clarify debates about instrumentality, social control, and the neglect of meaningful accounts of human learning capacities. Develops comparative perspectives shaped by labour movements, focusing on Norway and Canada and showing how “new” knowledge-economy rhetoric is constrained by industrial relations and intra-labour differences.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Labour, Skills and Competency

Existing Critiques of Skill/Competency Frameworks

Asia Pacific Education Review Copyright 2008 by Education Research Institute 2008, Vol. 9, No. 1, 50-62. Labour Perspectives on the New Politics of Skill and Competency Formation: International Reflections Peter Sawchuk University of Toronto Canada Skill/competency approaches to workplace-based policy seek to assess and train for discrete individual competencies with the goal of increasing employability and productivity. These approaches have become increasingly prominent across a range of advanced capitalist countries. A substantial critique has emerged over this same period regarding issues of instrumentality and social control, as well as the failure of skill/compentancy approaches to articulate a meaningful understanding of human learning capacities. In this article, these critical perspectives are clarified further by a review of contributions to understanding the skill/competence question emerging from sociology of work literature. Building from these critiques, this article outlines recent experiences with and perspectives on skill/competency frameworks amongst different national labour movements. Included in this outline is a more detailed, comparative analysis of Norway and Canada; here we see the lofty ‘new’,‘knowledge economy’ rhetoric – in two countries where one might expect to see it blossom in application – brought down to earth by the realities of industrial relations, employer intransigence and intra-labour movement differences.‘Skill/competence’ proves to be a floating signifier that, amongst both employers and labour, stands as a proxy for ‘power/control’ struggles. Degenerating in this way, from a labour perspective, the new politics of skill/competency formation is seen to have spiraled toward irrelevance in Norway and Canada; awaiting, in both countries, a re-invigoration through attention to changes in the participatory structure of the labour process itself. Key words: work, competency, skills, employability, labour, policy, industrial relations, Canada, Norway Introduction Governments, employers and trade unions increasingly face a need to prepare workers for a new and more flexible labour market, and the prospect of a working life which involves a variety of occupations and skills…a new politics of skill formation has emerged, facilitating and regulating Peter Sawchuk, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Peter Sawchuk, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, [Canada. e-mail: psawchuk@oise.utoronto.ca](Canada. e-mail: psawchuk@oise.utoronto.ca) the development of workers’ competences and transferable skills…(Martinez Lucio, Skule, Kruse, & Trappmann, 2007, p. 323; emphasis added) While the politics of skill/competency formation may not be as ‘new’ as some believe, the fact is that the new millennium has appeared to have crystalized momentum for attempts at such approaches. In this regard, it has become clear that the pressures of globalized trade, production and inter-capitalist competition, technological and demographic change (Martinez Lucio et al., 2007) have produced a willingness for experimentation. The skills/competencies approach, as has been Labour, Skills and Competency recognized, is not neutral. The discourse of skill/ competency formation belies the fact that recognition, classification, regulation and the legitimacy and resources to shape activity in ways reflecting particular material interests represent deeply political questions. Given the embeddedness of this issue in industrial relations, organized labour – while battered, bruised and in decline in most, but not all advanced capitalist countries – represents a relevant standpoint from which to investigate the skill/competency question. The goal of this article is to address the complexity and inner contradictions of this formation from the standpoint of organized labour to sho

FAQs

What is the main focus of the article?

The article analyzes labour perspectives on the politics of skill and competency formation, drawing on critiques and sociological work literature and offering comparative insights from Norway and Canada.

How does the article evaluate skill/competency approaches?

It argues these approaches are not neutral, operating through recognition, classification, and regulation that reflect political and material interests, and it highlights their failure to articulate human learning capacities meaningfully.

Why does the article compare Norway and Canada?

The comparison illustrates how “new” knowledge-economy rhetoric is grounded by realities of industrial relations, employer resistance, and differences within labour movements, leading to labour-based concerns about irrelevance and the need for renewed attention to labour-process participation.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Grenda