The active pursuit of social and labor rights is seen as a crucial response to globalization. Essays by leading scholars from the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S. question the effectiveness of the new rhetoric of rights (such as decent work and security; equality of opportunity; adequate food and housing; and healthcare). The contributors examine emerging new approaches at the international and E.U. level in several European countries, Japan, and the U.S. and in codes of practice of multinational companies.

The need for a legislative framework for ensuring equality of opportunity is not seriously questioned in the UK. However, despite the presence on the Statute book of various significant pieces legislation dating back to the mid- 1970s, there remain deep-seated structural disadvantages which blight the lives of many women, Black and Asian people, and disabled persons. Barriers can also be found in public services, including the presence of institutionalized racism in the police, and in private sector organizations. There are also insistent demands for the extension of legislation to cover...

The focus of globalisation studies is on how global processes can be better regulated in order to deliver both economic growth and social justice. Labour laws provide an excellent case study of the creation of a new framework to reconcile free trade and investment with social objectives. This book, written by a leading authority on international and comparative labour law, provides a thoughtful and comprehensive analysis of the new methods of transnational labour regulation that are emerging in response to globalisation. The author reassesses orthodox views, from the viewpoint of a theory of...