The deepening of economic liberalisation following Bashar al-Assad’s rise to power in the decade prior to the Syrian uprising intensified the unfavourable living and working conditions of various sectors of the labour force in the country. The general situation only worsened in all respects when the war broke out, while the employed labour force in the country shrank considerably due to large-scale infrastructure destruction, militarisation and the forced departure of millions of Syrians from the territory. At the same time, the participation of women in the labour market increased markedly, without, however, enhancing their social and economic status in society. The Syrian regime’s past and present repressive practices have been employed against forms of independent activism by labourers and peasants. The mechanisms of control imposed through the General Federation of Trade Union Workers, the General Federation of Peasants and other professional associations, in addition to a body of policies based on clientelism, political loyalties and sectarian and ethnic discrimination, have imposed severe obstacles to any significant collective labour selforganisation and class-based identification. Under the leadership of the Baath Party, the role of workers’ and peasants’ federations and professional associations as part of the regime’s networks was also significantly regenerated in the state’s internal and external official representations and in the provision of particular services after 2011. The function of the General Federation of Trade Union Workers has been to strengthen the regime’s policies and its domination over society. These conditions have not prevented small forms of labour dissent and protest over socio-economic frustrations from emerging, but to date they have not really challenged the regime’s stability. The absence of a labour movement in Syria constitutes a significant obstacle to improving the living conditions of the various segments of the labour force.

链接地址：http://dx.doi.org/10.2870/890096