The Political Economy of Work in the Global South

(Paperback)

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Part of the Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment series, this edited collection brings together contributions from leading international scholars to initiate an important dialogue between labour process analysis and scholarship on work in the Global South. This book characterises the forms of work and labour process that characterise globalising capitalism today and addresses core analytical concerns within Labour Process Theory and research on work in the South. It explores how a wide range of production relations in the Global South, ranging from formal to informal employment and self-employment, are embedded in wider social relations of gender, caste, religion and ethnicity, and are related to wider patterns of commodification and resistance. Drawing on cutting-edge research, the books chapters consider a diverse range of working situations, covering migrant workers in the Middle East, commercial surrogacy work in India and cooperative garment workers in Argentina. In offering a novel reading of the political economy of work in the Global South and shedding light on lesser-considered fields of work and worker organization, this volume will provide new insights for making sense of the changing world of work for students, scholars, labour activists and practitioners alike.

Reviews

In this groundbreaking volume, scholars interested in the labour processes and forms of work produced by contemporary globalising capitalism will find a wealth of material ranging from Latin America, Europe and the Middle East to Asia. Highly recommended reading for any student of the discipline. * Geert De Neve, University of Sussex, UK *
Its energetic, provocative scholarship will not only encourage the renewal of scholarship on the Global South but also redefine LPT and class analyses in the Global North. * K. R. Shyam Sundar, Xavier School of Management, India *
An excellent overview and introduction to labor process analysis and work in the Global South. For anyone interested in this area of research, this is your 'must-buy' book. It reviews current trends, lessons learned from the past, and points to future directions in labor process theory and analysis. * Peter Lund-Thomsen, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark *
This collection offers a rich and comprehensive analysis of the various forms of work, employer control and workers' resistance in the Global South. This unique and original collection of case studies makes a major contribution to labour process analysis, notably by connecting the sphere of work and life through a thick description and an integrated analysis of labour control regimes and the broader sphere of social reproduction. This is a must read! * Christian Lvesque, HEC Montreal, Canada *

Author Bio

Anita Hammer is a Senior Lecturer in Comparative and International Human Resource Management at De Montfort University, UK. A Sociologist of work and employment, she researches on the political economy of work in the Global South, in particular India and the Middle East. Her research examines the role of the informal economy, social reproduction and skills in structuring work and employment in multinational firms and in new industrializing/investment regions. Anita has published in leading journals, including Work, Employment and Society and Industrial Relations Journal. She is a research collaborator with Euro-Canadian network on Globalisation and Work, CRIMT, based at University of Montreal, Canada, and a research collaborator on their SSHRC partnership project Institutional Experimentation for Better Work, a 7-year project with 19 University partners across the world for 2017-2024. Adam Fishwick is a Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies and Public Policy at De Montfort University. His research focuses on the relationship between the changing nature of work, workers movements and the political economy of development in Latin America. He is also interested in alternative forms of social and economic organization in the region and beyond. Adam has published work in leading journals, including Geoforum and Development and Change and co-edited a recent volume entitled Austerity and Working-Class Resistance: Survival, Disruption and Creation in Hard Times.