The world is undergoing enormous change involving politics, the economy and society, however the position and place of the state and the significance of state policy in this process is heavily contested. "Globalisation, State and Labour "presents a timely opportunity to review and re-assess the modern state in regard to labor.
Using major studies from four countries (UK, Denmark, Australia and New Zealand) the contributors to this volume challenge many preconceptions regarding globalization and labor organization including the notions that the state is being marginalized by the processes...

This comprehensive survey of continuity and change in trade unions looks at five primarily English-speaking countries: the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The authors consider the recent re-examination by trade union movements of the basis of union organization and activity in the face of a harsher economic and political climate. One of the impetuses for this re-examination has been the recent history of unions in the USA. American models of renewal have inspired Australia, New Zealand and the UK, while Canada has undergone a cautious examination of the US model with an...

Trade union movements in many countries face uncertain futures. After three decades of extensive economic restructuring at both national and international levels, often accompanied by major legislative reforms, the way forward for unions is unclear. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, in most developed economies, union membership declined massively and union leaders and their members lost their former prominence and their place in the polity.

This text questions the common belief that Russia is in transition to capitalism and looks behind the political and ideological debates to focus on the development of the real lives of the workers. The contributors come to the conclusion that beneath the political turmoil Russia has not managed to overcome the challenge presented by the working class - that, in fact, the struggle over the transformation of class is only just beginning.

Innovative and offering a sociological analysis of trade unionism in the globalized era, this book provides a robust and coherent comparative analysis of the debate surrounding trade unions and their renewal. In recent decades, trade unions suffered major reversals. They experienced declining memberships. Employers were increasingly assertive if not hostile. Transnational corporations and state-owned multi-nationals increasingly implement deteriorating terms and conditions of employment, vulnerable and insecure job contracts. Using theory and a variety of case studies, this book explores: the...

Transnational trade union action has expanded significantly over the last few decades and has taken a variety of shapes and trajectories. This book is concerned with understanding the spatial extension of trade union action, and in particular the development of new forms of collective mobilization, network-building, and forms of regulation that bridge local and transnational issues.

Through the work of leading international specialists, this collection of essays examines the process and dynamic of transnational trade union action and provides analytical and conceptual tools...