Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis (Studies in Social and Global Justice)

Exploring a range of transnational labour movements, the book provides a theory for understanding how collective action succeeds and fails. Contents Introduction Part I: Class Formation Chapter One: The Crisis of the World’s Old Labour Movements Chapter Two: Farewell to Europe’s Working Classes Chapter Three: Free Trade and Transnational Labour Solidarity Chapter Four: Mass Strikes in Brazil, South Africa, and India after 2008 Part II: Transnational Action—Past and Present Chapter Five: Trade Union Internationalism and European Integration Chapter Six: A Closed Nation or an Open Working Class? Chapter Seven: A Pyrrhic Victory? Part III: Power and Strategy Chapter Eight: Labour after Globalization Chapter Nine: Power, Labour, and Globalization Chapter Ten: Governance Struggles and Worker Power Chapter Eleven: What Role Can Trade Union Education Play in Enhancing Transnational Labour Solidarity? Part IV: Varieties of Internationalism Chapter Twelve: Pathways of Influence Chapter Thirteen: Labour in the Era of Transnational Migration Chapter Fourteen: Towards a ‘Cosmopolitan’ Labour Movement? Questions for the Future Bibliography Index Notes on Contributors Processes of neoliberal globalization have put national trade unions under pressure as the transnational organization of production puts these labour movements in competition with each other. The global economic crisis has intensified these pressures further. And yet, economic and political integration processes have also provided workers with new possibilities to organize resistance. Emphasizing the importance of agency, this book analyzes transnational labour action in times of crisis, historically and now. It draws on a variety of fascinating cases, across formal and informal collectives, in order to clarify which factors facilitate or block the formation of solidarity. Moving beyond empirical description of cases to an informed understanding of collective action across borders, the volume provides an insightful theorization of transnational action.-- Provided by publisher