Description
Book SynopsisWith empirical case studies of Walmart's entry into Latin America, Africa, and Asia, this book reveals how the world's largest private employer has had to adapt its labor practices and supply chain operations to meet local conditions.
Trade ReviewThrough its wide-ranging and multi-faceted analysis,
Walmart in the Global South provides a thought-provoking examination of globalized capital accumulation, the embeddedness of [transnational corporations] within local environments and relations, and the struggle between [transnational corporations] and workers. * Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies *
[
Walmart in the Global South] reads like a stolen playbook, explaining how the biggest retailer on the planet has managed to infiltrate, appropriate, exploit, and degrade working conditions around the world…Books like this one are essential to remind consumers and shareholders in the global North that everyday low prices depend on the shocking exploitation of working people around the world. * Contemporary Sociology *
An invaluable addition to the literature on modern global capitalism that demonstrates both the company's power to reshape work and work cultures globally and also how worker resistance can force it to make compromises with unions it would never acquiesce to in the United States. * The Latin Americanist *
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction. Situating Walmart in a Global Context: Workplace Cultures, Industrial Relations, and Supply Chains (Carolina Bank Muñoz, Bridget Kenny, and Antonio Stecher)
- 1. Walmart in Brazil: From Global Diffusion to National Institutional Embeddedness (Katiuscia Moreno Galhera, Scott B. Martin, and João Paulo Cândia Veiga)
- 2. Walmart and Labor Conditions in South Africa: Local Retailing, Contract Labor, and Union Challenges (Bridget Kenny)
- 3. Walmart Workers in Chile: A Case of Union Democracy, Militancy, and Strategic Capacity (Carolina Bank Muñoz)
- 4. Rank-and-File Union Activism in Walmart Argentina (Paula Abal Medina)
- 5. Walmart Culture in the Information Technologies Industry in Mexico (Gabriela Victoria Alvarado)
- 6. Walmart’s Direct Farmer Program in South Africa: Developmental State Victory or Corporate Whitewash? (Stephen Greenberg)
- 7. Brokering Development: NGOs and Walmart in Low-Income Countries (Jennifer Wiegel)
- 8. Walmart’s Human Trafficking Problem: The Shrimp Supply Chain in Thailand (Nicholas Rudikoff)
- Final Reflections (Carolina Bank Muñoz, Bridget Kenny, and Antonio Stecher)
- Contributors
- Index
