Trade Unionism Since 1945

Trade Unionism Since 1945
Author: Craig Phelan
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783039119509

This book offers the detailed historical background required for a holistic appreciation of current problems faced and the possibilities for revitalisation. In two volumes it provides introductory overviews of trade union development since the end of World War II in 26 countries from every corner of the globe. Each chapter explains the main contours of trade union growth and development in one country from the pivotal year 1945 to the present. Each chapter assesses the often dynamic expansion of trade unionism in the 1950s and 1960s; the role of trade unionism in the movements for national liberation in the Global South and the erection of social welfare systems in the developed North; the economic shocks that resulted in membership decline and loss of political influence from the late 1970s onward; the economic restructuring and growing labour market diversity of the 1980s and 1990s that undercut the traditional bases of trade union membership; and the historical roots of the contemporary political and economic context in which revitalisation efforts are taking place.

Liberal Workers of the World, Unite?

Liberal Workers of the World, Unite?
Author: Magaly Rodriguez Garcia
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783034301121

The history of international free trade union organisations during the first two decades of the Cold War is an important but often neglected aspect of the development of post-war labour and liberalism. In this path-breaking book, Rodríguez García fills this void in the historical literature by offering a comparative analysis of two cases, the European Regional Organisation (ERO) and the Inter-American Regional Workers' Organisation (ORIT), which were created in the early 1950s as regional branches of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). The author employs the term 'labour liberalism' to describe their wide variety of functions. She argues that social democratic and reformist trade unions, which made up the bulk of ICFTU members, were fundamentally shaped by liberal values, even while calling for the active participation of organised labour in the planning and implementation of projects promoting liberal democracy and socio-economic development at home and abroad. By placing international free trade unionism centre stage, this book adds significantly to our understanding of post-war labour and liberalism.

The Politics of Privatisation and Trade Union Mobilisation

The Politics of Privatisation and Trade Union Mobilisation
Author: Pablo Ghigliani
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783039119615

This is a comparative study of how workers and their unions respond to privatisation. Drawing upon research from a variety of disciplines, the author examines the push toward privatisation in diverse national settings, its profound impact on organised labour, and the often innovative responses of workers and their unions in the affected industries. By means of a detailed analysis of the privatisation of the electricity industries in the United Kingdom and Argentina, and the various initiatives of workers and their trade unions in these two countries, this book offers an engaging comparative case study that sheds new light on key issues in contemporary labour studies: the strategic choices available to workers and their organisations when faced with the radical restructuring of their industries; the types of resources available to trade unions and how they are mobilised; and the impact of widespread worker unrest on their organisations. This book also provides fresh insight into the use of mobilisation theory in the field of labour studies. The author employs mobilisation theory to make sense of worker and trade union responses to privatisation, and he argues that this theoretical framework can be useful for cross-national comparisons.

The Cold War in Asia

The Cold War in Asia
Author: Yangwen Zheng
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004175377

The Cold War stayed cold in Europe but it was hot in Asia. Its legacy lives on in the region. In none of the three dominant historiographical paradigms: orthodox, revisionist and post-revisionist, does Asia, or the rest of the Third World, figure with much significance. What happens to these narratives if we put them to the test in Asia? This volume argues that attention to what has been conventionally considered the periphery is essential to a full understanding of the global Cold War. Foregrounding Asia necessarily leads to a re-assessment of the dominant narratives. This volume also argues for a shift in focus from diplomacy and high politics alone towards research into the culture of the Cold War era and its public diplomacy. "As a whole, the essays contribute to enriching our understanding of what was really happening in an era that is too often understood in the catch-all framework of the Cold War." - Akira Iriye, "Harvard University"

Rise and Decline of Brazil's New Unionism

Rise and Decline of Brazil's New Unionism
Author: Jeffrey Sluyter-Beltrão
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783034301145

This series publishes monographs and edited collections on the history, present condition and possible future role of organised labour around the world. Multidisciplinary in approach, geographically and chronologically diverse, this series is dedicated to the study of trade unionism and the undeniably significant role it has played in modern society.

Labour Conflicts in the Global South

Labour Conflicts in the Global South
Author: Andreas Bieler
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2022-04-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000581152

Against the background of the global economic crisis since 2007/2008 and increasing inequality across the world, the Global South has experienced widespread, large-scale industrial action, including in countries such as China, Brazil, India and South Africa, which had been hailed as the new growth engines of the global political economy as part of the so-called BRICS. This volume systematically evaluates how the new forms of labour mobilization witnessed in the past ten years responded to the predominance of the informality-precarity complex of industrial relations and what conclusions can be drawn for potentially successful strategies against exploitation in the future. Can we identify a convergence of new approaches across the Global South, or do we witness an ongoing fragmentation of actors, models and strategies? In addressing this question, consideration is given to issues of class as well as gender and race. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Globalizations.

Organizing the Organized

Organizing the Organized
Author: Laura Ariovich
Publisher: Peter Lang
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2010
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9783034301329

This series publishes monographs and edited collections on the history, present condition and possible future role of organised labour around the world. Multidisciplinary in approach, geographically and chronologically diverse, this series is dedicated to the study of trade unionism and the undeniably significant role it has played in modern society.

Sociality

Sociality
Author: Nicholas J. Long
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2013
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0857457896

The notion of 'sociality' is now widely used within the social sciences and humanities. However, what is meant by the term varies radically, and the contributors here, through compelling and wide ranging essays, identify the strengths and weaknesses of current definitions and their deployment in the social sciences. By developing their own rigorous and innovative theory of human sociality, they re-set the framework of the debate and open up new possibilities for conceptualizing other forms of sociality, such as that of animals or materials. Cases from Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe explore the new directions of human sociality, illuminating how and why it is transformed when human beings engage with such major issues as economic downturn, climate change, new regimes of occupational and psychological therapy, technological innovations in robotics and the creation of new online, 'virtual' environments. This book is an invaluable resource, not only for research and teaching, but for anyone interested in the question of what makes us social.

Workplace Conflict

Workplace Conflict
Author: M. Atzeni
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 184
Release: 2010-06-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0230281621

Based on qualitative work in car plants in Argentina, this book offers new insights for an understanding of workers' collective struggles in a radical perspective. Criticizing the use of injustice as the basis of mobilization, it argues that workers' collective resistance should be seen as a function of the development of solidarity.