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Intervening in globalization: the spatial possibilities and institutional barriers to labour’s collective agency

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  • Andrew Cumbers
  • David Featherstone
  • Danny MacKinnon
  • Anthony Ince
  • Kendra Strauss

Abstract

Trade unions are facing a series of challenges around place-based forms of work in industries such as construction, transport and public services. New spatial strategies by employers involving corporate reorganization, increased outsourcing and the use of migrant labour, allied to a deepening of neoliberal governance processes are accelerating a race to the bottom in wages and conditions. Drawing upon the experience of two recent labour disputes in the UK—at Heathrow Airport and Lindsey Oil Refinery—we explore the potential for workers to intervene in such globalizing processes. We highlight both the ability of grassroots workers to mobilize their own spatial networks but also their limitations in an increasingly hostile neoliberal landscape.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Cumbers & David Featherstone & Danny MacKinnon & Anthony Ince & Kendra Strauss, 2016. "Intervening in globalization: the spatial possibilities and institutional barriers to labour’s collective agency," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 93-108.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jecgeo:v:16:y:2016:i:1:p:93-108.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeg/lbu039
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2019. "The behavioural foundations of urban and regional development: culture, psychology and agency," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(1), pages 121-146.
    2. Tom Barratt & Caleb Goods & Alex Veen, 2020. "‘I’m my own boss…’: Active intermediation and ‘entrepreneurial’ worker agency in the Australian gig-economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(8), pages 1643-1661, November.
    3. Ruth Barton, 2021. "Trade unions and industrial regeneration in North West Tasmania: Moving beyond lock-in?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(2), pages 332-348, March.

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