Social Regionalism in the Global Economy

by Blackett; Adelle

• ISBN13: 9780415480529
• ISBN10: 0415480523
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-14
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Regional trade agreements have expanded exponentially over the past decade, and have become a significant, if controversial, factor in the expanse of economic globalization. Social Regionalism in the Global Economyattempts to take a fresh, interdisciplinary approach to addressing labour regulation by drawing upon insights from industrial relations, comparative capitalism, and new governance schools of thought. It stands for the proposition that an interdisciplinary study of regional regulation holds the potential to offer a fuller account of social regionalism. Its focus is to consider how institutions and labour market actors reconstruct and renegotiate regulatory space in a changing economic environment characterized by regional impulses. It argues that there is a dynamic interplay between institutions and actors of social regulation. This interplay occurs at many levels. The book therefore maps both how actors shape institutions as well as how institutions shape social actors#xE2;#xAC;" ability to affect regulatory processes. The editors bring together leading international specialists willing to move beyond textual analyses of regional agreements to offer alternative accounts of regional integration. The work emphasizes that institutional context and social actors at multiple governance levels are integral to the progressive construction and regulation of regional space. It further contributes to the literature by combining insights from overlooked regional entities in transition and developing countries with original analyses from the European Union and the NAFTA. These aims will be achieved by combining original research that is empirically grounded with theoretically informed analysis.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Illustrations, and Tables	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction: Social Regionalism in the Global Economy	p. 1
The Multinational Firm as a Vector of Integration
Asymmetric Integration and the Restructuring of Social Relations in Global Firms: Actors, Institutions and Norms	p. 31
MNC Strategies and their Linkages with SMEs	p. 48
The Role of MNCs in Reshaping Employment Relations in China	p. 65
Regulating Integration: Union and Civil Society Action
European Trade Unions and EU Labour Law	p. 87
European Works Councils and Trade Union Networking: A New Space for Regulation and Workers' Solidarity in Europe?	p. 111
Solidarity Without Borders? Canadian Law and Transamerican Union Solidarity Action	p. 129
Does Social Embeddedness Still Matter? A Case Study in the Ghanaian Mining Sector	p. 140
Regional Integration and the Nation State in Labour Law Reform
The Reformulation of Labour Law in Post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe	p. 161
Mapping the Social in Caribbean Regional Integration	p. 183
Lobour Reform from the Regional Perspective: Experiences in the Americas	p. 207
The Evolution of European Social Integration Under Globalization: Some Reflections on Recent Developments	p. 225
International Institutions and Actors in Regional Reform
The Paradox of OHADA's Transnational, Hard Law, Labour Harmonization Initiative	p. 243
Labour Migration as an Unintended Consequence of Globalization in Mexico, 1980-2000	p. 273
Putting International Labour Law on the (Right) Map	p. 290
The Cartography of Transnational Labour Law: Projection, Scale, and Symbolism	p. 299
Selected Bibliography	p. 311
Contributors	p. 339
Index	p. 341
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