The limitations of the structural dependence thesis: class, power, and distributive conflict in the UK since 1892

Can political parties, social movements, and governments shape the functioning of a capitalist economy? Is it possible for social democratic parties to promote a significant redistribution of income in favour of labour? According to proponents of the structural dependence thesis, the answer is negative, because the structural dependence of labour upon capital severely constrains feasible income distributions. Carlo V. Fiorio, Simon Mohun, and Roberto Veneziani cast doubts on this thesis. Their historical analysis of the UK finds some evidence of a short-run profit-squeeze mechanism, but also that income shares are much more variable than the structural dependence argument suggests, and the power resources available to social classes are among the key determinants of distributive outcomes.