Workers in a Lean World: Unions in the International Economy

by Kim Moody

In this comprehensive study of current labour relations worldwide, Kim Moody surveys both sides of the picket lines. He provides a measured assessment of multinational managements’ strategies to downsize, introduce flexible production and compel workers to accept less pay for more work. He emphasizes the need, in the face of these changes, for renewal and international coordination among national unions and provides examples, from North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia, of how this has been achieved.

A bracing riposte to the conventional wisdom concerning the irresistible power of globalization, Workers in a Lean World  is a definitive account of contemporary labor relations on a global scale.

Genres: Labor, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Economics, Sociology

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This excellent book tracks the now-familiar rise of neoliberalism and decline of unionism and welfare states, with particular attention paid to the role of lean production as a method of capitalist management. What’s depressing is how little has changed since the book was written in the mid-90s; we’ve seen several waves of left-wing advances and retreats since its publication but the basic trajectory hasn’t altered. It is interesting to read the book’s appraisal of possible developments in resistance with the benefit of hindsight, as it highlights some that would become significant (the PT in Brazil) and others that would not (the new AFL-CIO leadership).

[Thomas Ray]

HD6483 M55 1997 College Library Rm. 1191 and Memorial Library