Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis

Even though the authors of this volume come from a variety of backgrounds, the editors skillfully provide common conceptual conclusions in the last chapter that are relevant and useful for students, activists, and researchers of trade unionism.... With its emphasis on labor agency at different levels, in different settings, and employing different resources and power, Labour and Transnational Action in Times of Crisis provides a useful framework for sources of power that lead to a new look at structure and agency. The volume is written at a time when global restructuring has undermined trade union’s power resources. Instead of painting a bleak picture, the book does very well at highlighting new avenues for transnational resistance while at the same time emphasising that such solidarity is not a given but stems from concrete actions and struggle. This study of trade unionism should continue to be at the center of academic and public policy debates. * ILR Review *
This volume makes a timely contribution to debates about class and global solidarity. Combining rigorous theoretical analysis with rich empirical data, the importance of the volume is not only in its scholarly contribution, but its engaged approach focusing on how the relationships between labour, new social movements and migrant workers are critical to social justice and potentially wider transformation. -- Jane Hardy, Professor of Political Economy, University of Hertfordshire
In the present situation when old social models are being eroded at the bottom and trade union rights are attacked from above, this book shows the necessity for unions to act as a collective intellectual and to bring together labour migrants and resident wage earners in the same organization. -- Roy Pedersen, President of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions in Oslo
A highly original collection drawing upon several disciplines, this book investigates the possibilities of labour exercising agency in a global economy. Ranging over a wide diversity of theories, topics and geographic areas the chapters show where and when labour action shapes the world we live in. An excellent up-to-date engagement with global labour dynamics. -- Robert O'Brien, Professor of Global Labour Issues, McMaster University