Abstract:
Bieler makes this assessment of Grounding Globalization (GG): the book ‘constitutes a significant
contribution to our understanding of neo-liberal globalization, its impact on workers and the
possible ways of resisting’. Our rejoinder to the four interventions reflects on these three core
issues to advance debate on the unfolding crises of neo-liberalism and the prospects this might
herald for effective resistance. In so doing we identify priority research areas in the new field of
global labour studies (GLS). In our view, a core aim of GLS is clarification of the underlying cause of
the crises and envisaging alternatives to the free market logic. These questions foreground the
strategic issue of what kind of movement is needed to successfully mobilize against neo-liberalism?
Our book was published before the recent financial crisis and its fallout, which, on our view,
underscores some of the issues we raised in the book, but also requires a fresh look at opportunities
for transnational countermovement. Analysing the role of finance capital and the ongoing global
financial crisis (GFC) is the starting point of this endeavour.