Synopses & Reviews
Struggle in a Time of Crisis brings together essays by an array of distinguished global contributors who are devoted to working with labor movements and their allies around the world to stimulate debate about the challenges facing labor groups and activists amid increasing globalization. Arguing that labor is a crucial social force in this time of economic disparity, the essays in this volume look specifically at such examples as the Indonesian sportswear industry, Chinese construction companies in Africa, mining in South Africa, job quality in Europe, and the role of international aid. It is a wide-ranging look at the current state of the labor crisis around the world.
About the Author
Nicolas Pons-Vignon is a senior researcher at Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development, a leading economic research organization at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.Mbuso Nkosi is a PhD candidate in development studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Nicolas Pons-Vignon & Mbuso Nkosi
SECTION 1: UNDERSTANDING THE CRISIS
Özlem Onaran: Planet Earth is Wage-led!
Thomas I. Palley From Financial Crisis to Stagnation: The Destruction of Shared Prosperity and the Role of Economics
Fred Lee State Funding of Research and the Narrowing of economics in the UK
Ilan Strauss Globalisation and Taxation: Trends and Consequences
Tony Norfield: T-shirt economics: Labour in the Imperialist World Economy
SECTION 2: EUROPE IN TURMOIL
Giorgios Argitis: Greece in the deadlock of the Troika's austerity trap
Carlo D'Ippoliti: The ECB's misleading Understanding of the euro crisis
Hansjörg Herr: Europe's lost decade: Paths out of stagnation
Christoph Hermann: The crisis, structural reform and the fortification of neoliberalism in Europe
Andrew Watt and Janine Leschke: The economic crisis and job quality in Europe: Some worrying trends and worse may be to come
SECTION 3: EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES
Jomo Sundaram & Anis Chowdhury: Tackling unemployment and growing public debt
Frank Hoffer: Tax for equity: Getting wages back on track
Cedric Durand & Dany Lang: The State as the employer of last resort
Karl Cloete: We are Steaming Ahead': NUMSA's Road to the Left
João Antônio Felício: Alternatives to Neoliberalism: Towards a new progressive consensus There are Alternatives to the Neoliberal Blind Alley! Towards a New Progressive Consensus
SECTION 4: RESISTING EXPLOITATION AND NEOLIBERALISM
Carol Jess: The Hobbit: An unexpected outcome?
Roland Zullo: Right to Work and Michigan labour
Ruth Castel-Branco: A Site of Struggle: Organised Labour and Domestic Worker Organising in Mozambique
Salimah Valiani: Constructing an anti-Neoliberal analysis to arrive at truly alternative alternatives
Paul Stewart: The 2012 Strike Wave, Marikana and the History of Rock Drillers in South African Mines
SECTION 5: GOOD SAMARITANS? INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO LABOUR RIGHT ABUSES
Phoebe V. Moore: Where is Decent Work in DfID policy? Marketisation and securitisation of UK international aid
Lisa Carstensen & Siobhan McGrath: The national pact to eradicate slave labour in Brazil: A useful tool for unions?
Dennis Arnold: Better work or ‘ethical fix? Lessons from Cambodias apparel industry
Karin A. Siegmann, Jeroen Merk, and Peter Knorringa: Putting Workers´ Agency at the Centre in the Indonesian Sportswear Industry
Tandiwe Gross: Rana plaza: private governance and corporate power in global supply chains
SECTION 6: 'WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE': CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF TRANSNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
Vasco Pedrina: Rank and File Participation and International Union Democracy
Andreas Bieler: Trade unions, free trade and the problem of transnational solidarity
Michael Fichter: Modelling a global union strategy. The arena of global production networks, Global Framework Agreements and trade union networks
Ronaldo Munck: Trade unions, globalisation and internationalism
Eddie Cottle: Chinese construction companies in Africa: A challenge for trade unions
Index