Handbook on Globalisation and Labour Standards

This comprehensive Handbook explores the complex and volatile debate over globalisation and labour standards. It offers key insights into the impact of globalisation on workers, the obligations of corporations and international legal bodies in protecting workers’ rights and maximising the opportunities offered by international trade and investment.

Multidisciplinary contributions illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of globalisation for labour standards, demonstrating the limitations of recent initiatives to improve working conditions. The chapters pay close attention to the buying practices of multinational corporations at the top of global value chains, the priorities of which too often diverge from the codes of corporate social responsibility, as well as the inadequate actions of national governments in enforcing labour standards, including through trade agreements and sanctions.

Offering an impressive overview of the key actors in the protection of workers’ rights, the Handbook provides an essential reference point and research agenda for scholars and researchers of global economics and labour policy, highlighting crucial gaps in the field that are in need of further study. Its practical, empirical insights will also benefit practitioners and policy-makers working in human rights and labour advocacy, as well as trade specialists and political and economic commentators.