Surplus Populations in the World Economy: A Sociological Debate

Summary

So-called surplus populations of the Global South are once again moving into the focus of debates on the development of capitalism, labor relations, social reproduction, and socioecological conflicts. This is because the majority of the world’s labor force still depends on securing its survival largely outside the capitalist relations of production in a narrow sense. While the “surplus populations” have long been considered functional to capitalist development, publications especially since the early 21st century suggest that they must often rather be understood as a- or dysfunctional for capital. Their survival has therefore become to a large extent a matter of political power relations rather than economic functionality, which is shaping new forms of political regulation and conflict.