Grounding Globalization

*Winner of the 2009 Distinguished Scholarly Monograph Prize, awarded by the American Sociological Association Labor and Labor Movements section* Claims have been made on the emergence of a new labour internationalism in response to the growing insecurity created by globalization. However, when persons face conditions of insecurity they often turn inwards. The book contains a warning and a sign of hope. Some workers become fatalistic, even xenophobic. Others are attempting to globalize their own struggles. Examines the claim that a new labour internationalism is emerging by grounding the book in evidence, rather than assertion Analyzes three distinct places – Orange, Australia; Changwon, South Korea; and Ezakheni, South Africa – and how they dealt with manufacturing plants undergoing restructuring Explores worker responses to rising levels of insecurity and examines preconditions for the emergence of counter-movements to such insecurities Highlights the significance of 'place' and 'scale', and demonstrates how the restructuring of multi-national corporations, and worker responses to this, connect the two concepts

Preface: A Journey of Discovery. List of Abbreviations. 1. The Polanyi Problem and the Problem with Polanyi. Part One: Markets Against Society. 2. Manufacturing Matters. 3. The Return of Market Despotism. 4. Citizenship Matters. Part Two: Society Against Markets. 5. Strong Winds in Ezakheni. 6. Escaping Social Death in Changwon. 7. Squeezing Orange. Part Three: Society Governing the Market? 8. History Matters. 9. Grounding Labour Internationalism. 10. The Necessity for Utopian Thinking. Notes. References. Index.