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Taking on the CosmoCorps? Experiments in Transnational Labor Organization

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  • Jane Wills

Abstract

This paper revisits the argument that globalization necessarily undermines trade union organization. In addition to heightened competition for investment and the threat of social dumping, the internationalization of capital can also bring workers into closer contact with each other. Working class nationalism and internationalism are both possible outcomes of economic globalization. By exploring the history of labor internationalism and the current development of European Works Councils (EWCs), this paper urges caution in assuming that globalization necessarily threatens labor organization. Contemporary experience suggests that, in some instances, the changing world economy poses new opportunities for workers to organize across national boundaries. I draw on preliminary research into the development of EWCs in the United Kingdom to suggest that they offer real opportunities for new forms of labor internationalism, and as such, EWCs are emblematic of the possibilities and problems facing workers as they seek to organize in a globalizing world.

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  • Jane Wills, 1998. "Taking on the CosmoCorps? Experiments in Transnational Labor Organization," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(2), pages 111-130, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:74:y:1998:i:2:p:111-130
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1944-8287.1998.tb00108.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Ernesto Noronha & Premilla D’Cruz & Muneeb Ul Lateef Banday, 2020. "Navigating Embeddedness: Experiences of Indian IT Suppliers and Employees in the Netherlands," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 95-113, June.
    2. Lydia Savage, 2004. "Public Sector Unions Shaping Hospital Privatization: The Creation of Boston Medical Center," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(3), pages 547-568, March.
    3. Katy Fox-Hodess, 2017. "(Re-)Locating the Local and National in the Global: Multi-Scalar Political Alignment in Transnational European Dockworker Union Campaigns," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(3), pages 626-647, September.
    4. David Goss & Janet Druker & Tim Strangleman & Kevin Ward & Helen Russell & Mark Erickson, 2002. "Book Reviews," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 16(4), pages 761-773, December.
    5. Korkmaz, Emre Eren, 2013. "Globalisation, the global labour movement and transnational solidarity campaigns: three case studies from Turkey," SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 16(1), pages 97-112.
    6. Katy Fox-Hodess, 2020. "Building Labour Internationalism ‘from Below’: Lessons from the International Dockworkers Council’s European Working Group," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(1), pages 91-108, February.
    7. Trina Hamilton, 2009. "Power in Numbers: A Call for Analytical Generosity toward New Political Strategies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(2), pages 284-301, February.
    8. David Peetz & Georgina Murray & Olav Muurlink & Maggie May, 2015. "The meaning and making of union delegate networks," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 26(4), pages 596-613, December.
    9. Evans, Peter, 2010. "Is it Labor’s Turn to Globalize? Twenty-first Century Opportunities and Strategic Responses," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt10j002st, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.

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