Poverty and the Production of World Politics : Unprotected Workers in the Global Political Economy

Global poverty is a central concern for world politics, yet we lack and adequate conception of the ways the "global poor" affect contemporary world order. This book examines the proposition, inspired by the work of Robert W. Cox and Jeffrey Harrod, that such a conception must be based on an analysis of how the "global poor" take part in power relations as unprotected workers . It examines the ways in which production and power relations constitute world politics, and the chapters shed light on the politics of production in the Third World, migration, prostitution, the "clash of civilizations" and union internationalism. The RAND Corporation, the World Bank, cosmopolitan liberals, trade unionists and anti-globalization movements all agree that global poverty and 'the underclass' constitute essential dimensions of world politics. Yet, systematic analyses of how the 'global poor' intervene in world politics are scarce. Revisiting Cox and Harrod's conception of 'unprotected workers', this book critically examines prevailing assumptions about the sources of conflicts often associated with the global poor. By focusing specifically on the relations between work and the power relations in societal and global arenas, Poverty and the Production of World Politics links together debates about migration, human rights, the feminization and flexibilization of labour markets, and the rise of the 'informal economy' in innovative and provocative ways. It does so theoretically through a critical engagement with mainstream International Relations as well as Marxism, feminism and post-colonial theory. It does so empirically through explorations of the rise of millennialism; prostitution and the sex industry; the politics of the interstices of gender, labour and migration in Southern Africa and Latin America; and contemporary trade union politics Invisible subject(s) : work and workers in the global political economy / Louise Amoore The global poor and global politics : neomaterialism and the sources of political action / Jeffrey Harrod Workers of the world... : the 'economic corporate moment' of contemporary world politics / Magnus Ryner The public spheres of unprotected workers / Matt Davies Prostitution and globalization / Silvia Federici Migration and unprotected work in Southern Africa / Michael Niemann The working poor : labour market reform and unprotected workers in the South African retail sector / Marlea Clarke The condition of hegemony and labour militancy : the restructuring of gender and production patterns in Mexico / Teresa Healy Globalizing social justice all the way down? Agents, subjects, objects and phantoms in international labor politics / Dimitris Stevis and Terry Boswell Power, production and world order revisited : some preliminary conclusions / Matt Davies and Magnus Ryner "By focusing specifically on the relations between work and the power relations in societal and global arenas, Poverty and the Production of World Politics links together debates about migration, human rights, the feminization and flexibilization of labour markets, and the rise of the 'informal economy' in innovative and provocative ways. It does so theoretically through a critical engagement with mainstream International Relations as well as Marxism, feminism and post-colonial theory. It does so empirically through explorations of the rise of millennialism; prostitution and the sex industry; the politics of the interstices of gender, labour and migration in Southern Africa and Latin America; and contemporary trade union politics."--BOOK JACKET This book revisits Cox and Harrod's conception of 'unprotected workers' through theoretical reflection and empirical explorations of the rise of millennialism, prostitution and the sex industry, the politics of migration, the interstices of class and gender, and trade union politics.