The Practice of International Labor Solidarity and the Geography of the Global Economy

Herod, Andrew

doi:10.2307/144422

Cited by 111 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Another segment of strategy-focus scholars thus turned to case studies of transnational campaigns to gain a more empirically accurate view of the new labour transnationalism. These case studies included: the United Steelworkers' dispute with the Ravenswood Aluminum Corporation in 1995, in which consumer boycotts and political demonstrations by unions in twenty-eight countries aided the Steelworkers' victory (Herod, 1995;Juravich and Bronfenbrenner, 1999); the 1996-1998 dockers' dispute in Liverpool, in which solidarity strikes at ports around the world demonstrated maritime unions' power to disrupt global commerce (Castree, 2000;Carter et al, 2003); the Teamsters' successful 1997 strike against UPS, which featured transnational union cooperation coordinated through the UPS World Council (Russo and Banks, 1999;Mazur, 2000); the transnational alliance launched in 1998 in an attempt to get mining giant Rio Tinto to abide by ILO conventions on labour rights (Goodman, 2004;Sadler and Fagan, 2004); countless new union-activist alliances forged in the heat of the 1999 anti-WTO protests in Seattle; and dozens of anti-sweatshop campaigns led by coalitions of unions, students and NGOs in Asia and Latin America (Johns and Vural, 2000;Anner, 2009). …”

Section: Transnational Strategies In the New Global Labour Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The New Global Labour Studies: A Critical Review

Brookes

McCallum

2017

GLJ

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The past two decades have seen a dramatic upsurge in sustained, cross-border labour activism, or labour transnationalism. Scattered across multiple disciplines and subfields, a new field of inquirythe new global labour studies (NGLS) -has emerged as scholars seek to comprehend the causes and consequences of twenty-first-century labour transnationalism. This multi-disciplinary approach has provided a platform from which to analyse an emerging phenomenon. We assess relevant strands of this emerging field that focus on: a) new theories of labour power and corporate vulnerability, and b) worker agency and organising strategy. While these areas have produced robust findings, we argue that developing a more complete understanding of labour transnationalism and its outcomes will require scholars to produce a more explicit critique of mainstream political economy, sociology, political science and labour studies. KEY WORDSLabour; labour movements; globalisation; transnationalism; labour transnationalism; unions The New Global Labour Studies: A Critical ReviewThe past two decades have seen a dramatic upsurge in sustained, cross-border labour activism, or labour transnationalism. Spanning North-South divides, industrial and service economies, and racial and gender lines, workers and their organisations have attempted, sometimes successfully, to meet capital at its own scale. To date over 115 global framework agreements (GFAs) have been signed by transnational corporations (TNCs) and the recently re-branded Global Unions. The latter expanded significantly in the early 2000s following their transformation from the old International Trade Secretariats into Global Union Federations. Workers and unions from different countries are also increasingly involved in less formal modes of transnational collaboration, ranging from basic alliancebuilding efforts to more elaborate, employer-targeted campaigns.Through these actions transnational activists have collectively built the inchoate foundation of a new kind of labour movement. Scholars argue that, in contrast to the past, the new spirit of labour transnationalism strives for greater democracy, diversity and inclusivity, and tries to emphasise direct, concrete solidarity actions informed by strategic research and decentralised information networks.

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Section: Transnational Strategies In the New Global Labour Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The New Global Labour Studies: A Critical Review

Brookes

McCallum

2017

GLJ

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“…The call for 'bringing labour back' into academic discourse and conceptualisations of global governance as well as into policy has reappeared from various corners and epistemic circles, voiced most strongly by labour relationists, sociologists and labour geographers (Herod 1995;Munck 2000;Bronfenbrenner 2007Evans 2010. Calls to study labour have also appeared in the context of global production network analysis-an area of scholarly inquiry marked by an 'inadequate incorporation of labour' (Stringer et al 2013: 3).…”

Section: Bringing Labour Back Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Increasing calls to 'bring labour back in' (Cumbers et al 2008) are mainly driven by the imbalance among overtly structural analyses that have shifted worker agency to the back stage (Herod 1995). International relations literature on global governance, in contrast, has neglected labour and, as a result, has not concerned itself with the role of the ILO and trade unions in the study of international organisations and politics.…”

Section: Bringing Labour Back Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global governance of labour migration: From ‘management’ of migration to an integrated rights-based approach

Piper¹

2017

Regulatory Theory

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“…Les syndicats ont besoin de donner un sens à leurs actions pour les situer dans un cadre de valeurs et de significations communes. La manière dont ils définissent leurs intérêts en opposition aux autres est une composante essentielle de leur action à l'international (Anner, 2011;Herod, 1995;Johns, 1998;Ryland et Sadler, 2008). Les cadrages locaux et globaux présupposent la représentation qu'ils ont de leur communauté d'intérêts, qui peut être opposée à celle des autres, comme c'est souvent le cas dans les pays du Sud où la question de l'altérité est essentielle dans la définition de la totalité, comme l'indique la notion d'internationalisme.…”

Section: Pour Une Action Syndicale Internationale Enracinéeunclassified

L’action syndicale à l’international vue du Sud : du global au local ou du local au global?

Adanhounme¹,

Lévesque

2013

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Ce texte propose une relecture du débat sur l’action syndicale à l’international entre la construction de coalitions globales et le développement de réseaux locaux. Il se base sur le récit des représentants syndicaux du secteur minier au Ghana et au Mexique. Les stratégies syndicales sont saisies sous les trois dimensions analytiques que sont les espaces de l’action syndicale à l’international, les modes d’interaction et le cadre de référence. L’objectif de l’article vise à comprendre comment les syndicats nationaux naviguent entre le local et le global, et les facteurs qui les poussent et les attirent vers les espaces transnationaux.Alors que les deux syndicats sont engagés dans un processus de renouvellement de leur action, leur stratégie transnationale diffère : les Ghanéens sont engagés dans le développement de nouvelles aptitudes et de nouveaux savoir-faire et les Mexicains dans la construction des coalitions. Ces constats suggèrent que l’action syndicale à l’international est fonction des contingences nationales. Primo, le syndicat ghanéen intervient surtout au niveau continental africain et privilégie le développement des compétences locales et nationales. De son côté, le syndicat mexicain est présent aussi bien au niveau continental nord-américain que transnational, notamment dans des campagnes de solidarité. Secundo, les Ghanéens entretiennent de faibles liens avec les autres syndicats. De l’autre, les Mexicains sont engagés dans un large répertoire d’action avec les syndicats nord-américains et les fédérations internationales. Tertio, les Ghanéens conçoivent leurs intérêts sur la base d’une forte identité clanique et définissent leur engagement international en termes de ressources. Pour leur part, les Mexicains bâtissent des coalitions transnationales sur la base d’une identité de classe.Allant au-delà de la dichotomie entre le local et le global, les stratégies syndicales à l’international sont socialement construites et localement enracinées. Elles s’expliquent par la dynamique de l’économie politique dans laquelle se trouvent insérés ces syndicats et les structures d’opportunité transnationale à leur portée.Based on the account of trade union representatives from the mining sector in Ghana and Mexico, this paper offers a re-reading of the debate on transnational unionism between developing global coalitions and local networks. Trade union strategies are captured under three analytical fields: spaces of transnational unionism, modes of interaction, and frames of reference. The paper’s objective is to understand how national trade unions articulate the local and the global, and identify the factors that push and pull them into the transnational space.While trade unions in both countries have undergone a process of union renewal, their transnational strategy differs: Ghanaians are engaged in capacity building and Mexicans in coalition building. Strategies of transnational unionism are shaped by national contingencies. First, the Ghanaian trade union intervenes mainly at the African regional level throu...

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The Practice of International Labor Solidarity and the Geography of the Global Economy

Cited by 111 publications

References 62 publications

The New Global Labour Studies: A Critical Review

The New Global Labour Studies: A Critical Review

Global governance of labour migration: From ‘management’ of migration to an integrated rights-based approach

L’action syndicale à l’international vue du Sud : du global au local ou du local au global?

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