Labour Laws and Global Trade

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Description

The global economy poses major new questions for employment and social policy on an international scale. Governments worldwide face dilemmas; whether to liberalize trade and investment or opt for protectionism; and whether to create flexible or tightly regulated labour markets. These same questions are hotly debated within the World Trade Organization, the International Labour Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and also within regional blocs such as the European Union, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, APEC and SADC. For neo-liberals, as for old-style labour protectionists, the choices may appear to be relatively simple. But most Governments and policy makers are striving to achieve a balance between free trade and investment on the one hand and high employment and raised social standards on the other. This book, written by a leading authority on international labour law, provides a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the complex policy and legal choices which face those wishing pursue a broadly social democratic response to the removal of barriers to trade and investment in a globalized market economy dominated by transnational corporations.

Reviews

a considered and complex assessmenta thoughtful analysis of the lessons which can be drawn on and provides an insight into the way forward. -- Naomi Cervin * New Zealand Law Journal *
...introduces the reader to the primary sources and to the vast critical literature, and converts a daunting subject into an accessible one. This book is essential reading for anyone-academic, student, policy maker or activist-concerned with issues of labour law and globalisation. -- A.C.L. Davies * Industrial Relations Journal, Vol 37, Issue 3 *
...an encyclopedic work that is well written and readablea must-read for the international labour lawyer.. -- Reagan Walker * International Trade Law and Regulation, Vol 12, Issue 2 *
likely to be a seminal text with a long shelf life, which will shape the thinking of a new generation of labour lawyers. -- K.D. Ewing, King's College, London * Industrial Law Journal *
Le lecteur ne manquera pas de tirer profit de toute l'exprience acquise par l'auteur dans les diverses institutions qu'il a servies. Il trouvera ici les analyses pntrantes, les critiques pertinentes et les prises de position lucides qui lui permettront de mieux comprendre le droit du travail de demain. -- Xavier Blanc-Jouvan * Extrait de la Revue Internationale de Droit Compar *
...an absolute pleasure to read..It truly deserves a prominent place in the library of any serious international labour lawyer, and more generally, of anyone who earnestly wishes to contribute to making today's unfolding transnational world a better place to live -for all. -- Jean-Michel Servais * International Labour Review, vol.144 *
Hepple's 'Labour Laws and Global Trade' provides the most comprehensive map of transnational regulation produced to date -- David M. Trubeck * The American Journal of International Law, Vol 100 *

Author Bio

Sir Bob Hepple QC, FBA is Emeritus Master of Clare College; Emeritus Professor of Law in the University of Cambridge, and Honorary Professor of Law in the University of Cape Town. He has acted as an independent expert for the ILO and EU.