This book brings together many of the today’s leading labour scholars to assess the current state and future prospects of organised labour world-wide. It offers analysis of the causes and extent of the movement’s current malaise from a variety of vantage points. It provides eight national and regional studies – China, Britain, France, the US, Eastern Europe, Brazil, Ghana and Cameroon – that detail problems faced and the revitalisation strategies trade unions have pursued in response. It also offers fresh scholarly perspectives on a host of pressing labour issues: the extent and impact of global corporate restructuring; the ongoing fight to achieve core labour standards; the enduring importance of gender and diversity; the fortunes of the international labour movement; the relationship between trade unions and NGOs; the intellectual response to organised labour’s present predicament; and the role of labour in the global social justice movement. With its expansive focus and interdisciplinary approach, this collection will stand as a starting point for any investigation into the status of organised labour in the contemporary world.
