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An incisive guide, this book is as a valuable reference for students and researchers wishing to become familiar with the theoretical issues of geographical scale, and pushes such theories in new and original directions.
Discussions of the geographic transformations wrought by capitalism generally treat corporations as the primary agents of spatial change. We hear of billions of dollars flowing here, factories moving there, venture capitalists opening up new markets, and workers having to "take it or leave it." Yet labor too is increasingly thinking and acting geographically, whether by struggling to impose national contracts; building regional, national, or international links of solidarity; or engaging in debates over local economic development. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the emerging discipline of labor geography. Combining innovative theoretical analysis with empirical case studies from around the world, Herod examines the spatial contexts and scales in which workers live, organize, and work to address particular economic and political problems. The first book-length text of its kind, this is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in working-class life, workers' organizations, and the contemporary dynamics of capitalism.
Labor is the source of all wealth. Without workers, the world's natural resources cannot be transformed into finished goods and services cannot be delivered. Labor, though, is a uniquely important resource because, unlike others, it is capable of altering its own conditions of existence and of challenging how it is used. In this book, Andrew Herod offers an original and wide-ranging analysis of labor as a multifaceted and truly global resource. Opening with a rich overview of the migration streams and demographic trends that have shaped the planetary distribution of labor, he goes on to explore how globalization and the growth of precarious work are impacting working people's lives in both "Old Economy" and "New Economy" employment sectors. He concludes by surveying some of the ways in which working people are taking action to improve their lives, including forming trade unions and other labor organizations, occupying factories in places like Argentina and Greece, and establishing anti-sweatshop campaigns. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the state of labor in today's global economy.
Exploring a wide range of issues, from the integration of the world economy to how contemporary processes are shaping and shaped by nation-states and how workers are organizing transnationally in response to transformations in the planet’s economic geography, Geographies of Globalization is a critical examination of what has become the leitmotif of our contemporary world. Challenges neoliberal assumptions on the nature of globalization Provides a conceptual overview of how globalization is a spatial process and of its relation to capitalism Explores whether we are in fact living in a more ‘globalized’ world or only in a more ‘internationalized’ one Considers arguments concerning whether ‘globalization’ is a new phenomenon or simply the latest manifestation of processes many hundreds of years in the making Focuses on how nation-states have shaped, and been shaped by, contemporary processes of ‘globalization’, how ‘globalization’ has been imagined discursively, and how workers are responding to such processes Explores how workers are creating new organizing strategies in response to ‘globalization’
At a time when references to things ‘global' have gained more currency than ever, this book explores the nexus of power and space behind the politics of geographical scale. Explores the nexus of power and space behind the rescaling of contemporary social, economic and political life. Organized into three sections on theorizing scale, the discourses and rhetorics of scale, and scales of activism. Will stimulate discussion about how conceptions and visions of scale inform all aspects of social life.
Geographical scale is a central concept enabling us to make sense of the world we inhabit. Amongst other things, it allows us to declare one event or process a national one and another a global or regional one. However, geographical scales and how we think about them are profoundly contested, and the spatial resolution at which social processes take place – local, regional or global – together with how we talk about them has significant implications for understanding our world. Scale provides a structured investigation of the debates concerning the concept of scale and how various geographical scales have been thought about within critical social theory. Specifically, the author examines...
An Unruly World? examines how fast transnational capitalism is re-making the rules of the game throughout the world of the late twentieth century. Ranging in focus from analyses of "soft capitalism" and the rhetoric of speed in US political discourse, to the post-Cold War organizational drives of international trade unions, and the efforts of citizen groups to challenge trade and financial regimes, the chapters analyse the diverse conundrums thrown up by a seemingly unruly globalization. Whereas contemporary literature appears to argue that the process of globalization is leading to an increasingly uncontrollable world, this book suggests that this is not, however, a world bereft of rules and rulers. Indeed the rules governing the global economy are today more strictly enforced by intellectual organization and the rhetoric of neoliberalism than ever before.
Since the renaissance of market politics on a global scale, precarious work has become pervasive. Divided into two parts, the first section of this cross-disciplinary book analyses the different forms of precarious work that have arisen over the past thirty years. These transformations are captured in ethnographically orientated chapters on sweatshops; day labour; homework; unpaid contract work of Chinese construction workers; the introduction of insecure contracting in the Korean automotive industry; and the insecurity of Brazilian cane cutters. The editors and contributors then collectively explore trade union initiatives in the face of precarious work and stimulate debate on the issue.
A wide-ranging and knowledgeable guide to the history of radical geography in North America and beyond. Includes contributions from an international group of scholars Focuses on the centrality of place, spatial circulation and geographical scale in understanding the rise of radical geography and its spread A celebration of radical geography from its early beginnings in the 1950s through to the 1980s, and after Draws on oral histories by leaders in the field and private and public archives Contains a wealth of never-before published historical material Serves as both authoritative introduction and indispensable professional reference