Radical Economics And Labour: Essays Inspired By The Iww Centennial (routledge Advances In Heterodox Economics)

To celebrate the centenary of the most radical union in North America - The Industrial Workers of the World - this collection examines radical economics and the labor movement in the 20th Century. The union advocates direct action to raise wages and increase job control, and it envisions the eventual abolition of capitalism and the wage system through the general strike. The contributors to this volume speak both to economists and to those in the labor movement, and point to fruitful ways in which these radical heterodox traditions have engaged and continue to engage each other and with the labor movement. In view of the current crisis of organized labor and the beleaguered state of the working class―phenomena which are global in scope―the book is both timely and important. Representing a significant contribution to the non-mainstream literature on labor economics, the book reactivates a marginalized analytical tradition which can shed a great deal of light on the origins and evolution of the difficulties confronting workers throughout the world. This volume will be of most interest to students and scholars of heterodox economics, those involved with or researching The Industrial Workers of the World, as well as anyone interested in the more radical side of unions, anarchism and labor organizations in an economic context. Cover Routledge Advances in Heterodox Economics Radical Economics and Labor Contents Illustrations Figure Tables Contributors Introduction History of the Industrial Workers of the World1 About the book Notes 1 Senex’s Letters on Associated Labour and The Pioneer, 1834 Notes References 2 Peter Kropotkin’s anarchist economics for a new society Kropotkin’s critique of political economy and capitalism Capitalism is not productive Wage slavery Production is social An anarchist economics for a new society Shorter hours in the new society Work need not be painful Conclusion: abolish the wage system Notes Bibliography 3 Some notes on anarchist economic thought The critique of capitalism Decentralization, bioregionalism, and municipal confederalism Division of labor and work Appropriate technology Reciprocity and mutualism: consumption, production, and property Anarchism and heterodox economics Conclusion Notes Bibliography 4 The economics of the Industrial Workers of the World Introduction IWW’s critique of capitalism Heterodox economics model of capitalism Micro-macro structural organization of economic activity Structure of production Monetary structure of the economy and the linkage between incomes and the surplus Social framework of the social provisioning process Business enterprise and prices Pricing and the price model Business enterprise, the state, investment and the quantity model Micro-macro model of a capitalist monetary production economy Heterodox economics, job control, and revolution Price determination, price changes, and the labor theory of value Output determination, production of profits, and exploitation Price system and distribution Job control and revolution Conclusion Notes References 5 Economic science and the Left Feasible income distributions in a capitalist economy Economic science and politics What can organized labor do? Conclusion: economics, modernity and the Left Acknowledgments Notes References 6 John Kenneth Galbraith’s new industrial state 40 years later Introduction American capitalism and the need for big labor The affluent society and the need for big government The new industrial state and the need for big business The new industrial state and unions, government, and the future So what happened? Conclusion, and Galbraith’s parting riposte Acknowledgements Notes References 7 A radical critique and alternative to U.S. industrial relations theory and practice Introduction Industrial relations, radical labor economics, and Marx Industrial relations and radical political economy1 The IR concept of class struggle, the state and leadership The capitalist–employment relationship Gender and industrial relations Decentering wage labor in contemporary capitalism Labor and the work of reproduction Crisis in the family as displacement of crisis in the capitalist economy Learning from practice IWW and militancy today Notes Bibliography 8 Labor during transitionA radical institutional approach A radical institutional approach Introduction What is radical institutionalism and its relevance to the transition process? The significance of a radical institutional approach to the labor market for the transition process Labor during transition Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography 9 Offshore production and global labor arbitrage Introduction The status of the global organization of firms in the analysis of neoliberalism The hypothesis of global labor arbitrage as a new era of capitalism Starting from globalization Characteristics of global labor arbitrage Role of the state Magnitude of the offshoring and outsourcing process Impact on labor The global management of workforce by the multinationals What are the alternatives? Notes References 10 Financialization, employability and their impacts on the bank workers’ union movement in Brazil (1994–2004) Bank strategies and labor Changing structure of the Brazilian banking system in the 1990s New banking system, jobs, and bank workers Employability, sociability, and syndicalism Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index Senex's Letters On Associated Labour And The Pioneer, 1834: A Syndicalist Political Economy In The Making / Noel Thompson -- Peter Kropotkin's Anarchist Economics For A New Society / Jon Bekken -- Some Notes On Anarchist Economic Thought / Mathew Forstater -- The Economics Of The Industrial Workers Of The World: Job Control And Revolution / Frederic S. Lee -- Economic Sciences And The Left: Thoughts On Sraffa's Equations And The Efficacy Of Organized Labour / Tony Aspromourgos -- John Kenneth Galbraith's New Industrial State 40 Years Later: A Radical Perspective / Spencer J. Pack -- A Radical Critique And Alternative To U.s. Industrial Relations Theory And Practice / Richard Mcintyre And Michael Hillard -- Labor During Transition: A Radical Institutional Approach / John Marangos -- Offshore Production And Global Labor Arbitrage: A New Era Of Capitalism? / Claude Pottier -- Financialization, Employability And Their Impacts On The Bank Worker's Union Movement In Brazil (1994-2004) / Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi, José Ricardo Barbosa Gonçalves And José Dari Krein. Edited By Frederic S. Lee And Jon Bekken. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.