Description
Book SynopsisLabor is the source of all wealth. Without workers, the world's natural resources cannot be transformed into finished goods and services cannot be delivered. Labor, though, is a uniquely important resource for the very simple reason that working people have sentience.
Trade Review"Superbly explicated and assisted by well-chosen case studies, Andrew Herod's analysis of the uniqueness of labor as a resource is both captivating and convincing. Wonderful work!"
—Jon Agnone, University of Washington
"In this bold and pithy text Herod reminds us that labor is a vital resource with a mind of its own. This book is an excellent introduction to the fast-changing world of work and why it matters so much."
—Jane Wills, Queen Mary, University of London
"... an accessible text for undergraduates, and while clearly driven by a geographic imagination, it should be read by all labor studies students."
—Economic Geography
"In his new book, geographer Andrew Herod brings the labor question back into the heart of understanding the global economic processes shaping the world we live in."
—Antipode
"Herod's Labor is an excellent book. It succeeds brilliantly as an introductory text, but also presents important arguments and evidence deserving a wider readership."
—Journal of Industrial Relations
"... fresh and compelling."
—Rick Halpern, University of Toronto
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Acknowledgement
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 – A Resource Unlike Any Other
- Labor as Object
- Labor as Subject
- Summary
- Chapter 2 – Labor in Global Context
- Moving On
- Rural to urban migration
- Intra-continental migration
- Inter-continental migration
- Growing in Place
- Summary
- Chapter 3 – Globalization and Labor
- FDI’s Implications for Labor
- GPNs and Labor as Object and Subject
- Waste, Global Destruction Networks, and Labor
- Summary
- Chapter 4 – Neoliberalism and Working Precariously
- Neoliberalism and Precarious Work
- Forms of Precarity and Their Present Dynamics
- Summary
- Chapter 5 – From Drudge Work to Emancipated Workers?
- Laboring in the Old Economy
- On the Swing to the Cancer in the Bush Iron Ore Mining in Western Australia
- Sweet Work? – Cocoa Plantation Workers in West Africa
- Fishy Business – Forced Labor in the Seafood Industry
- Summary
- Chapter 6 – Meet the New Economy – Same as the Old Economy?
- Laboring in the New Economy
- Chips off the Old (Economy) Block?
- Call Centers – Dark Satanic Mills of the New Economy?
- Ghost Workers of the New Economy
- Summary
- Chapter 7 – Workers Fight Back
- Workers Coming Together
- Organizing in the Age of Precarity
- Summary
- Chapter 8 – Concluding Thoughts
- Bibliography
