Bob Hepple - Böcker

The active pursuit of social and labour rights is seen as a crucial response to globalization. These essays, written by leading scholars from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA, question the effectiveness of the rhetoric of rights such as those to decent work and security, equal opportunity, adequate food and housing, and healthcare. The authors examine emerging approaches in several European countries, Japan, and the USA and in codes of practice of multinational companies. Attempts by the International Labour Organization to promote core rights and decent work, and techniques of enforcement at regional level by the EU and NAFTA receive special attention.

The active pursuit of social and labour rights is seen as a crucial response to globalization. These essays, written by leading scholars from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the USA, question the effectiveness of the rhetoric of rights such as those to decent work and security, equal opportunity, adequate food and housing, and healthcare. The authors examine emerging approaches in several European countries, Japan, and the USA and in codes of practice of multinational companies. Attempts by the International Labour Organization to promote core rights and decent work, and techniques of enforcement at regional level by the EU and NAFTA receive special attention.

By November of 1963, the white police state of South Africa had managed to capture nearly all of the underground leaders of the antiapartheid movement—including Nelson Mandela—and had put them on trial on charges that carried the death penalty. Among the arrested was Bob Hepple, a 29-year-old lawyer who would subsequently escape to the neighboring British Protectorate of Bechuanaland. In this memoir of these dramatic events, Hepple throws fresh light on the character of Mandela and other leaders and on the controversies surrounding the emergence of the South African Communist Party and its “secret” resolution in December 1960 to begin the armed freedom struggle. There is a firsthand account of Mandela’s period as the ""Black Pimpernel,"" his 1962 trial for incitement, and of the Rivonia raid in 1963. Hepple also gives a graphic account of the psychological effects of interrogation in solitary detention without trial, and of the difficult personal choices he had to make. The story is told against the background of the experiences of his childhood and youth in a racist society, experiences that led him—described by a pro-government newspaper as “a young man with a red tie”—to play a role as a student activist against racial segregation in the universities, an adviser and assistant to the virtually illegal multiracial trade unions, a lawyer defending political victims of the police state, and to a lifetime fighting for human rights.

The need for a legislative framework for ensuring equality of opportunity is not seriously questioned in the UK. However,despite the presence on the Statute book of various significant pieces legislation dating back to the mid 1970s, there remain deep-seated structural disadvantages which blight the lives of many women, Black and Asian people, and disabled persons. The Stephen Lawrence inquiry report highlighted the presence of institutionalised racism in the police. Similar barriers can also be found in other public services and in private sector organisations. There are also insistent demands for the extension of legislation to cover discrimination on other grounds such as religion, age and sexual orientation. Discriminatory behaviour cannot be remedied by legislation alone, or simply by the actions of government, courts and tribunals and Commissions. Political and social leadership, customer and peer pressure, the development of good practices and campaigning all have a crucial part to play. Employers, trade unions, social organisations and clubs, service providers and individuals all have to take voluntary action to achieve the goals of the legislation.One thing that is clear is that the present legislation is badly in need of modernisation. The present acts are outdated, piecemeal and inconsistent. They fall short of the standards set by EU law, international human rights law, and the Human Rights Act. In writing this report, the authors set out to develop an accessible and cost-effective legislative framework for ensuring equality of opportunity, and to propose other measures which will promote equal opportunity policies and spur compliance with those policies. In the course of preparing the report they have considered experience in other countries. They have heard from many individuals and organisations who have either experienced the effects of discrimination or attempted to counter it. They conducted a survey of employers in Britain, Northern Ireland and the USA, which shows that human resource managers are looking for a new more inclusive approach not only to prevent discrimination but also to provide positively for the fair participation of all groups.These views, together with those of an advisory group drawn from government, the Commissions, and tribunals, as well as a panel of academic and practising lawyers, form the backdrop to the recommendations contained in this report. Coming at a time when the Government is committed to introducing new equality legislation the report is bound to be highly influential. It will be essential reading for all those interested in human rights, discrimination and employment law, and human resources management. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction - Aims and Methodology Ch. 1 - Why a new famework is needed Ch. 2 - Harmonising legislation and institutions Ch. 3 - Changing organisational policy and behaviour Ch. 4 - Making procedures and remedies more effective Appendices The research was sponsored by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Nuffield Foundation, and was conducted under the auspices of the Centre for Public Law and the Judge Institute of Management Studies in the University of Cambridge.

The focus of globalisation studies is on how global processes can be better regulated in order to deliver both economic growth and social justice. Labour laws provide an excellent case study of the creation of a new framework to reconcile free trade and investment with social objectives. This book,written by a leading authority on international and comparative labour law, provides a thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of the new methods of transnational labour regulation that are emerging in response to globalisation. The author reassesses orthodox views, from the viewpoint of a theory of comparative institutional advantage, and suggests ways in which transnational regulation can be re-invented in the new global economy This will be of interest to students of law, human rights, industrial relations, globalisation, international trade and development, as well as policy-makers in international and regional organisations, governments, employers' bodies, trade unions and NGOs.

The focus of globalisation studies is on how global processes can be better regulated in order to deliver both economic growth and social justice. Labour laws provide an excellent case study of the creation of a new framework to reconcile free trade and investment with social objectives. This book,written by a leading authority on international and comparative labour law, provides a thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of the new methods of transnational labour regulation that are emerging in response to globalisation. The author reassesses orthodox views, from the viewpoint of a theory of comparative institutional advantage, and suggests ways in which transnational regulation can be re-invented in the new global economy This will be of interest to students of law, human rights, industrial relations, globalisation, international trade and development, as well as policy-makers in international and regional organisations, governments, employers' bodies, trade unions and NGOs.

This is a re-issue of a book first published in 1986, which studies the way in which labour law took shape in nine European countries (the Member States of the EEC in 1979)-Belgium, Britain and Ireland, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - from the beginning of the industrial revolution up to 1945. The book explains similarities and differences between modern systems in these countries as the outcome of continuing struggles between different social groups and competing ideologies in the context of industrialisation and economic development.The book thus provides the essential underpinning to its companion, the new book, The Transformation of Labour Law in Europe (Hart: 2009, ISBN: 9781841138701), which continues the historical comparative study of the development of labour law in Europe since 1945. Other contributors include Antoine Jacobs, Thilo Ramm, Bruno Veneziani and Eliane Vogel-Polsky, with the assistance of Ole Hasselbalch and Jean-Claude Javillier. 'A major contribution to comparative legal scholarship' Lord Wedderburn. Industrial Law Journal (1988)

The labour laws of European democracies all underwent major transformations in the seven decades after the Second World War. Following reconstruction, these laws became an essential element in the building of welfare states; in the 1980s and 1990s they were the target of neo-liberal deregulation; and at the beginning of the 21st century new 'flexible' labour laws have attempted to integrate economic and social policy. This book, a sequel to 'The Making of Labour Law in Europe- A Comparative Study of Nine Countries up to 1945' (ed. B Hepple), compares the similarities and differences in the ways in which EU Member States reflected and shaped these general developments, in the context of economic, social and political changes over the period 1945-2004. Note: the Publishers are issuing a reprint of the first volume, 'The Making of Labour Law in Europe - A Comparative Study of Nine Countries up to 1945' to coincide with publication of the sequel. The great strength of the collection is on the focus on context, with chapters looking at developments in labour market trends and structures of worker represntation.Whilst probably not a book for a general readership, this is by no means an exclusively academic text. There is much of interest for active trace unionists and those with an interest in pan-European developments affecting workers. Darren O'Grady European Review Summer Issue 2010