Global labor studies : the crises and an emerging agenda

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.