Workers' Movements and Strikes in the Twenty-First Century

Madhumita Dutta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the Ohio State University, USA.Jörg Nowak is a Marie Curie Researcher at the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, UK.Peter Birke is Researcher at the Sociological Research Institute Göttingen (SOFI), at the University of Göttingen, Germany. He has published more specifically on the global social movements after the 2009 financial and debt crisis. Birke is editor of the journal Social History Online.

How to analyse the wave of strikes occurring around the world in the early 21st century? What are their causes, forms, and results – and what do they reveal about specific socioeconomic constellations? Is there potential for solidarity among workers in different world regions, based, for instance, on similar policies of informalisation? This volume is a perfect starting point for discussion.

• Introduction: The New Upsurge of Strikes in the Early 21st Century – Tendencies, Challenges and Limits, Jörg Nowak, Peter Birke and Madhumita Dutta / 1. Labour Strikes in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia, 1998-2013, Fahmi Panimbang and Abu Mufakhir / 2. Space and Strike Diffusion in a Decentralized Authoritarian Country: A Study of the Auto Parts Industry in South China, Deng Yunxue / 3. Strikes in Vietnam, Mark Anner / 4. Making Sense of Legality: Everyday Resistance and Survival Tactics by Undocumented Indian Female Domestic Workers in the United Arabic Emirates, Bindhulakshmi Pattadath / 5. Against All Odds: Tracing the Struggles of Workers to Form a Union Inside a Special Economic Zone in Tamil Nadu, India, Madhumita Dutta / 6. Mass Strikes in the Brazilian Construction Sector Between 2011 and 2014, Jörg Nowak / 7. Conflicts Around Subcontracted Workers in Chile's Copper Mining Sector, Antonio Aravena and Mauricio Muñoz / 8. The United States: Worker Agency and Innovation in the Midst of Crisis, Dave Kamper