Documents globalization 2 140 results

"This book serves as a sequel to two distinguished volumes on capitalism: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Capitalism (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and Order and Conflict in Contemporary Capitalism (1985). Both volumes took stock of major economic challenges advanced industrial democracies faced, as well as the ways political and economic elites dealt with them. However, during the last decades, the structural environment of advanced capitalist democracies has undergone profound changes: sweeping deindustrialization, tertiarization of the employment structure, and demographic developments. This book provides a synthetic view, allowing the reader to grasp the nature of these structural transformations and their consequences in terms of the politics of change, policy outputs, and outcomes. In contrast to functionalist and structuralist approaches, the book advocates and contributes to a 'return of electoral and coalitional politics' to political economy research. "

"Transnational trade union action has expanded significantly over the last few decades and has taken a variety of shapes and trajectories. This book is concerned with understanding the spatial extension of trade union action, and in particular the development of new forms of collective mobilization, network-building, and forms of regulation that bridge local and transnational issues.

Through the work of leading international specialists, this collection of essays examines the process and dynamic of transnational trade union action and provides analytical and conceptual tools to understand these developments. The research presented here emphasizes that the direction of transnational solidarity remains contested, subject to experimentation and negotiation, and includes studies of often overlooked developments in transition and developing countries with original analyses from the European Union and NAFTA areas. Providing a fresh examination of transnational solidarity, this volume offers neither a romantic or overly optimistic narrative of a borderless unionism, nor does it fall into a fatalistic or pessimistic account of international union solidarity. Through original research conducted at different levels, this book disentangles the processes and dynamics of institution building and challenges the conventional national based forms of unionism that prevailed in the latter half of the twentieth century."

"The twenty-first century is replete with uncertainty and complexity: game-changing events and trends are transforming the world beyond recognition. For the first time in human history more people live in cities than in the countryside and greater numbers suffer from obesity than from hunger. Emerging economies now represent half of the global economy and during the next few decades India will be the biggest country in terms of population, China the largest in output and the United States the richest among the major economies on a per capita income basis. Food and water shortages will likely become humankind's most important challenge. In this accessible introduction, Mauro Guillén and Emilio Ontiveros deploy the tools of economics, sociology and political science to provide an analytical perspective on both the problems and opportunities facing business in the modern world."

"An epic account of the decades-long battle to control what has emerged as the world's most critical resource--microchip technology--with the United States and China increasingly in conflict. You may be surprised to learn that microchips are the new oil--the scarce resource on which the modern world depends. Today, military, economic, and geopolitical power are built on a foundation of computer chips. Virtually everything--from missiles to microwaves, smartphones to the stock market--runs on chips. Until recently, America designed and built the fastest chips and maintained its lead as the #1 superpower. Now, America's edge is slipping, undermined by competitors in Taiwan, Korea, Europe, and, above all, China. Today, as Chip War reveals, China, which spends more money each year importing chips than it spends importing oil, is pouring billions into a chip-building initiative to catch up to the US. At stake is America's military superiority and economic prosperity. Economic historian Chris Miller explains how the semiconductor came to play a critical role in modern life and how the U.S. become dominant in chip design and manufacturing and applied this technology to military systems. America's victory in the Cold War and its global military dominance stems from its ability to harness computing power more effectively than any other power. But here, too, China is catching up, with its chip-building ambitions and military modernization going hand in hand. America has let key components of the chip-building process slip out of its grasp, contributing not only to a worldwide chip shortage but also a new Cold War with a superpower adversary that is desperate to bridge the gap. Illuminating, timely, and fascinating, Chip War shows that, to make sense of the current state of politics, economics, and technology, we must first understand the vital role played by chips."

"L'inesorabile incedere dell'economia globale e l'esplosione di veri drammi sociali come quello greco, ci costringono a riconsiderare il nostro progetto di Unione nonché il suo processo di integrazione e le sue modalità. Posto che l'Europa non può che essere dei popoli, viene da sé quanto il mondo intermedio abbia un compito imprescindibile davanti a sé: i corpi intermedi sono infatti attori fondamentali nel rapporto-processo che va dalla persona alle istituzioni. In una società duramente e strutturalmente colpita dal problema occupazionale, il sindacato è chiaramente un interlocutore privilegiato: il lavoro è, infatti, quella necessaria «cerniera» che tiene insieme società civile e istituzioni, senza la quale la democrazia fatica a mantenere stabilità. L'ondata di populismo e di anti-politica che, in Italia come in Europa, da qualche anno domina la scena, è un fatto significativo che rappresenta un'avvisaglia da non sottovalutare e che, nelle sue espressioni più estreme, delegittima anche il sindacato. Certo, il sindacato presenta colpevolmente dei ritardi che oggi vanno superati; la politica ha assunto un atteggiamento nuovo nei confronti del sindacato e ne ha messo a nudo i problemi. Il suo rigenerarsi, nonché il suo riproporsi, paiono oggi necessità fondamentali per la tenuta del sistema. A questo punto le possibilità sono due: o il sindacato si riposiziona in modo deciso e in grado di interloquire nel merito con la politica, o questa avrà praterie davanti a sé e farà quello che vuole. È questo il rischio della deriva statalista del nuovo corso politico"

"Over the last two decades in Latin America and in Peru the political, social context; but especially the economic, influenced the behavior of Labor Law and Social Security. Globalization and neoliberalism worldwide, hyperinflation, dictatorships and social violence in Latin America, particularly in Peru, substantially marked the labor reforms of the 90's. The later years were more favorable in political and economic matters; but in Peru we did not take advantage of this trend. We have started a new decade with an economic slowdown in Latin America compared to previous years and with a strange feeling in Peru that the past decade was a lost opportunity. Therefore, this is a crucial historical moment in which it is necessary to make additional efforts to improve and solve the problem of employment and social security."

"Ces vingt dernières années en Amérique Latine et au Pérou, le contexte politique, social, mais surtout, économique a influencé l'évolution du Droit du travail et de la sécurité sociale. La mondialisation et le néolibéralisme, l'hyperinflation, les dictatures et la violence sociale en Amérique Latine, et en particulier au Pérou,ont considérablement marqué les réformes du travail des années 90. Bien que ces dernières années aient été plus favorables d'un point de vue politique et économique, le Pérou ne profite pas de cette tendance. Une nouvelle décennie a été entamée avec un ralentissement économique en Amérique Latine par rapport aux années précédentes, et avec l'étrange sensation, que le Pérou a laissé passer sa chance lors de la décennie précédente. Il s'agit donc d'un moment crucial de l'histoire nationale, où des efforts supplémentaires sont nécessaires afin d'améliorer et de résoudre le problème de l'emploi et de la sécurité sociale."

"In this important volume, nine studies identify the complexities of protecting labour rights in a mobile global economy by assessing the role of ILO standards, as well as public, private, and public-private initiatives, in countering the potentially negative impact of international trade and investment flows on labour rights. The editor's powerfully summative introduction and conclusion pinpoint the crucial issues confronting labour law in this context, highlighting the need for policy coordination and coherence. Among the topics and issues raised in the book are the following:

empirical studies of migrant workers employed in global supply chains;

international recruitment intermediaries;

governance through hierarchy versus governance through networks;

trade sustainable impact assessments (SIAs);

the so-called governance triangle – the state, companies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs);

corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives; and

the OECD's national contact points (NCPs).

Various authors focus on such features as the difficulties of monitoring labour conditions in a supply-chain system, the multiple forms of disadvantage often faced by supply-chain workers, enforcement and jurisdictional roadblocks, and pitfalls caused by prioritizing quantitative modelling at the expense of qualitative analysis. Authors and editors both offer recommendations on ways to not only hold multinationals responsible for the negative externalities of their actions but also provide building blocks for"

"In describing the rights companies should respect, the UN Global Compact and the UN Principles on Business and Human Rights refer to the ILO's 1998 Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Company codes of conduct, and various certification, audit and reporting entities use language that is identical or similar to that found in the ILO Declaration. For years the International Labour Organization (ILO) was viewed as the authority on what certain human rights mean in the work context. This certainty was challenged in June 2012 when the Employers Group at the International Labour Conference (ILC) attacked the ILO's Committee of Experts (CEACR) for discussing the right to strike as part of its commentary on Convention No. 87, Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise. Underlying this criticism was the Employers' awareness that others were using the General Survey of the CEACR to comprehend the scope of certain human rights found in statements such as the UN Global Compact. The Employers identified 'the critical issue' as the fact that the CEACR's 'observations were being viewed by the outside world as a form of soft law labour standards jurisprudence.'This article will set out the 1998 ILO Declaration and will then discuss the two major UN pronouncements on human rights at work. It will review the standards used by other entities active in this space. This article will conclude that companies must accept that society has placed certain responsibilities on them to apply human rights in their sphere of control. It will also argue that for the post-World War II concept of universal human rights to remain valid and effective, there must be agreement on what specific rights mean in practice and that, in turn, requires acceptance of an international body's legitimacy in making these determinations."