Labour and the Challenges of Globalization

'Labour and the Challenges of Globalization breaks new ground by anchoring the response of labour to globalization in the strategies of individual labour movements. Through ten excellent country reports, leading labour scholars show how new struggles are emerging in the face of hyper-competition and the expanding informalisation of work. It is a persuasive plea for a new form of transnational solidarity that goes beyond traditional trade unionism.' Eddie Webster, Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa 'In an era when capital strikes back globally, old tools are no longer enough. The book Labour and the Challenges of Globalization makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the situation of the working class today.' Clas Linder, First Vice President, Swedish Transport Workers' Union This book critically examines the responses of the working classes of the world to the challenges posed by the neoliberal restructuring of the global economy. Neoliberal globalisation, the book argues, has created new forms of polarisation in the world. A renewal of working class internationalism must address the situation of both the more privileged segments of the working class and the more impoverished ones. The study identifies new or renewed labour responses among formalised core workers as well as those on the periphery, including street-traders, homeworkers and other 'informal sector' workers. The book contains ten country studies, including India, China, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Canada, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil. It argues that workers and trade unions, through intensive collaboration with other social forces across the world, can challenge the logic of neoliberal globalization.

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This edited book breaks new ground by anchoring the response of labour to globalisation in the strategies of individual labour movements. Through ten excellent country reports, leading labour scholars show how new struggles are emerging in the face of hyper-competition and the expanding informalisation of work. -- Eddie Webster, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Sociology of Work Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg/South Africa. In an era, when capital strikes back globally, old tools are not enough. New counter forces must be formed. The book makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the situation of the working class today. It provides concrete examples of new tools in the fight against neoliberal dominance. So let us read. -- Clas Linder, First Vice President, Swedish Transport Workers' Union.

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Andreas Bieler is Professor of Political Economy in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham. Ingemar Lindberg, a former trade unionist, is a senior researcher at the Swedish think-tank Agora. Devan Pillay, a former trade unionist, is Associate Professor in Sociology, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

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Acknowledgements List of Contributors List of Tables List of Figures List of Abbreviations Foreword: Samir Amin Rebuilding the unity of the 'labour front'1. The Future of the Global Working Class: an introduction, by Andreas Bieler, Ingemar Lindberg and Devan Pillay2. The Contested Politics of Gender and Irregular Employment: Revitalizing the South Korean Democratic Labour Movement, by Jennifer Jihye Chun3. Globalisation and the informalisation of labour: the case of South Africa, by Devan Pillay4. Globalization and Labour in India: Emerging Challenges and Responses, by Praveen Jha5. How China's Migrant Labour is Becoming the New Proletariat by Wen Tiejun6. The globalisation of capital and its impact on the world of formal and informal work: Challenges for and responses from Argentine unions, by Isabel Rauber7. Neoliberal Policies, Labour Market Restructuring and Social Exclusion: Brazil's Working Class Response, by Kjeld Jakobsen and Alexandre de Freitas Barbosa8. The Impact of Globalisation on Trade Unions: The Situation in Japan, by Wakana Shuto and Mac Urata9. Challenges facing the Canadian Labour Movement in the context of globalisation, unemployment and the casualisation of labour, by Geoff Bickerton and Jane Stinson10. German trade unions between neo-liberal restructuring, social partnership and internationalism, by Heiner Dribbusch and Thorsten Schulten11. Swedish unions and Globalisation: labour strategies in a changing global order, by Andreas Bieler and Ingemar Lindberg12. Building alliances between formal and informal workers: Experiences from Africa, by Ilda Lindell13. European integration: a strategic level for trade union resistance to neo-liberal restructuring and for the promotion of political alternatives?, by Andreas Bieler and Thorsten Schulten14. A Trade Union Internationalism for the 21st Century: Meeting the Challenges from Above, Below and Beyond, by Peter Waterman15. What future strategy for the global working class? The need for a new historical subject, by Andreas Bieler, Ingemar Lindberg and Devan PillayBibliographyIndex

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