Description
Book SynopsisFrom the rise of fully automated factories to the creation of new migrant workforces, the world of work, employment and production is rapidly changing. By reshaping the global distribution of wealth, jobs and opportunities, these processes are unleashing profound social and environmental tensions, as well as new political movements. As a means to address these crucial themes, Global Labour Studies elaborates an innovative interdisciplinary framework that builds upon the concepts of power, networks, space and livelihoods. This approach is deployed to explore core topics including global production networks, labour market dynamics, formal and informal sectors, migration and forced labour, agriculture and environment, corporate social responsibility and new labour organizations.
Written in a lively and engaging format that draws upon a diverse range of illustrative case studies, the book provides the reader with an accessible repertoire of analytical tools and offers an essential guide to the field. This makes it a uniquely rich text for undergraduate courses on global labour issues across the fields of geography, politics, sociology, labour studies and international development.
Trade Review"Marcus Taylor and Sébastien Rioux have opened the horizon to a truly global labour studies. Grounded in heterodox political economy, and animated by critical development studies, feminism, economic sociology, human geography, and more, Global Labour Studies is interdisciplinary in both spirit and practice. It is also a model of lucid, dynamic, and socially engaged exposition, shining light on lived experiences, deep connections, and structural conditions together across the rapidly changing worlds of labour."
Jamie Peck, University of British Columbia
"A most engaging text for readers who want to understand key labor issues in a rapidly changing global economy. Taylor and Rioux ably help us navigate the complex institutions, processes and relations that shape contemporary work, as well as their implications for politics, inequality and justice."
Ching Kwan Lee, University of California, Los Angeles
“The book is a remarkable accomplishment. Not only are the authors able to cover numerous topics central to the field in a relatively small amount of space without succumbing to superficiality, they do so in a lively and engaging way. Perhaps most significantly, the book provides readers with the necessary analytical and methodological tools to enter into and further their knowledge of and work in the field of global labour studies. For these and many more reasons, it is highly recommendable for students new to the field.”
Labour/Le Travail
Table of Contents
- Chapter 1: Thinking Global Labour Studies
- Chapter 2: The Toolkit of Global Labour Studies
- Chapter 3: Labour Regimes
- Chapter 4: Global Production Networks
- Chapter 5: Formal Work in Transition
- Chapter 6: Labour in the Informal Economy
- Chapter 7: Agrarian Labour
- Chapter 8: Migrant Labour
- Chapter 9: Forced Labour
- Chapter 10: The Nature of Labour
- Chapter 11: Corporate Social Responsibility
- Chapter 12: Organizing Global Labour
- Conclusion: The Futures of Global Labour
