Southern Insurgency: The Coming of the Global Working Class (Wildcat)

The Site Of Industrial Struggle Is Shifting. The West Needs To Look Further If It Wants To Understand How Workers' Self-organization Is Developing In Countries It Too Often Ignores. Across The Global South, Peasant Communities Are Forced Off The Land To Live And Work In Harsh And Impoverished Conditions. Inevitably, New Methods Of Combating The Spread Of Industrial Capitalism Are Evolving In Ambitious, Militant And Creative Ways. Southern Insurgency Will Lead The Way In Examining These Organizations In The Contemporary Era. Immanuel Ness Looks At Three Key Countries: China, India And South Africa. In Each Case He Considers The Broader Historical Forces At Play -- The Effects Of Imperialism, The Decline Of The Trade Union Movement, The Class Struggle And The Effects Of The Growing Reserve Army Of Labor. For Each Case Study, He Narrows His Focus To Reveal The Specifics Of Each Grassroots Insurgency: The Militancy Of The Miners In South Africa, The New Labor Organizations In India And Export Promotion And The Rise Of Worker Insurgency In China. A Result Of Intensive, Dedicated Firsthand Research, At The Heart Of Southern Insurgency Is A Study Of The Nature Of The New Industrial Proletariat In The Global South - A Terrifying, Precarious Existence - But Also One Of Experimentation, Solidarity And Struggle. -- Provided By Publisher. Capitalism And Imperialism. The Industrial Proletariat Of The Global South -- Migration And The Reserve Army Of Labor -- Case Studies. India : Neoliberal Industrialization, Class Formation, And Mobilization -- China : State Capitalism, Foreign Investment, And Worker Insurgency -- South Africa : Post-apartheid Labor Militancy In The Mining Sector. Immanuel Ness. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 191-214) And Index. The site of industrial struggle is shifting. The West needs to look further if it wants to understand how workers' self-organisation is developing in countries it too often ignores. Across the Global South, peasant communities are forced off the land to live and work in harsh and impoverished conditions. Inevitably, new methods of combating the spread of industrial capitalism are evolving in ambitious, militant and creative ways. Southern Insurgency will lead the way in examining these organisations in the contemporary era.Immanuel Ness looks at three key countries: China, India and South Africa. In each case he considers the broader historical forces at play - the effects of imperialism, the decline of the trade union movement, the class struggle and the effects of the growing reserve army of labour. For each case study, he narrows his focus to reveal the specifics of each grassroots insurgency: the militancy of the miners in South Africa, the new labour organisations in India and export promotion and the rise of worker insurgency in China.A result of intensive, dedicated firsthand research, at the heart of Southern Insurgency is a study of the nature of the new industrial proletariat in the Global South - a terrifying, precarious existence - but also one of experimentation, solidarity and struggle. The site of industrial struggle is shifting. Across the Global South, peasant communities are forced off the land to live and work in harsh and impoverished conditions. Inevitably, new methods of combating the spread of industrial capitalism are evolving in ambitious, militant and creative ways. This is the first book to theorise and examine the present and future shape of global class struggles.

Immanuel Ness looks at three key countries: China, India and South Africa. In each case he considers the broader historical forces at play - the effects of imperialism, the decline of the trade union movement, the class struggle and the effects of the growing reserve army of labour. For each case study, he narrows his focus to reveal the specifics of each grassroots insurgency: export promotion and the rise of worker insurgency in China, the new labour organisations in India, and the militancy of the miners in South Africa.

This is a study about the nature of the new industrial worker in the Global South; about people living a terrifying, precarious existence - but also one of experimentation, solidarity and struggle. Even as labor in the developed world seems to be in retreat, industrial struggle continues elsewhereand with particular force in the Global South. In Southern Insurgency , Immanuel Ness provides a thorough and expert perspective of three key countries where workers are fighting the spread of unchecked industrial China, India, and South Africa. In each case, he considers the broader historical forces in play, such as the effects of imperialism, the decline of the international union movement, class struggle, and the growing reserve of available labor. He then narrows his focus in each case on the specifics of the current grassroots the militancy of miners in South Africa, new labor organizations in India, and the rise of worker insurgencies in China. The product of extensive firsthand field research, Southern Insurgency paints a picture of the new industrial proletariat in the Global Southa group that lives a precarious, frightening existence yet at the same time offers hope for new approaches to solidarity and the anti-capitalist struggle. Cover 1 Contents 6 Maps, Figures and Tables 10 Preface and Acknowledgements 12 Introduction: The New International Working Class 16 Part I: Capitalism and Imperialism 42 1. The Industrial Proletariat of the Global South 44 2. Migration and the Reserve Army of Labor 75 Part II: Case Studies 94 3. India: Neoliberal Industrialization, Class Formation, and Mobilization 96 4. China: State Capitalism, Foreign Investment, and Worker Insurgency 122 5. South Africa: Post-Apartheid Labor Militancy in the Mining Sector 163 6. Conclusion 194 Notes 206 Index 230 List of Maps, Figures and TablesPreface and Acknowledgements1. Introduction: The New International Working ClassPart I: Capitalism and Imperialism2. The Industrial Proletariat of the Global South3. Migration and the Reserve Army of Labor Part II: Case Studies4. India: Neoliberal Industrialization, Class Formation and Mobilization 5. China: State Capitalism, Foreign Investment and Worker Insurgency 6. South Africa: Post-Apartheid Labor Militancy in the Mining Sector ConclusionNotes Index A book on the nature of the new, precarious industrial worker in the Global South - highlighting experimentation, solidarity and struggle.