Workers, unions, and global capitalism : lessons from India / Rohini Hensman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hensman, Rohini, 1948-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labor--India.

Labor.

Labor movement--India.

Labor movement.

Globalization--Economic aspects.

Globalization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (441 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

While it's easy to blame globalization for shrinking job opportunities, dangerous declines in labor standards, and a host of related discontents, the "flattening" of the world has also created unprecedented opportunities for worker organization. By expanding employment in developing countries, especially for women, globalization has formed a basis for stronger workers' rights, even in remote sites of production. Using India's labor movement as a model, Rohini Hensman charts the successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses, of the struggle for workers' rights and organization in a rich and varied nation. As Indian products gain wider acceptance in global markets, the disparities in employment conditions and union rights between such regions as the European Union and India's vast informal sector are exposed, raising the issue of globalization's implications for labor. Hensman's study examines the unique pattern of "employees' unionism," which emerged in Bombay in the 1950's, before considering union responses to recent developments, especially the drive to form a national federation of independent unions. A key issue is how far unions can resist protectionist impulses and press for stronger global standards, along with the mechanisms to enforce them. After thoroughly unpacking this example, Hensman zooms out to trace the parameters of a global labor agenda, calling for a revival of trade unionism, the elimination of informal labor, and reductions in military spending to favor funding for comprehensive welfare and social security systems.

Contents:

Emancipatory action research into workers' struggles

Defining globalization

Four sources of the global crisis of 2008

Capital, the state, and trade union rights

Employees' unions: an experiment in union democracy

Informal labor: the struggle for legal recognition

Working women and reproductive labor

Employment creation and welfare

International strategies

Conclusion: toward global solidarity.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612990380

9781282990388

1282990381

9780231519564

0231519567

OCLC:

826476326