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Labour in a Global World
Case Studies from the White Goods Industry in Africa, South America, East Asia and Europe
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This book gets behind much generality implicit in the term 'globalisation'. It does so by focussing upon one particular sector, so-called white goods. Such goods - mainly represented here by refridgeration and cooking appliances - are a taken-for-granted part of many people's lives and the study of this sector permits close examination of world-wide similarities and differences in a concrete context. The book is based on original investigations of industry development and the nature of work in the white goods sector in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and the UK. As such, it provides a rich source of information on the conditions under which these commodities are produced in different countries. It makes a unique contribution, among other things, to the understanding of the impact of social structure on production relations; the nature of factory regimes; the role of the state in employee relations; the variable nature of trade unions; the diffusion of management methods and what these entail for workers; and more generally on the meaning of work.
'This book makes an innovative contribution to our understanding of the ways in which workers across the world experience both the dynamic and uneven character of contemporary globalisation. The authors develop a systematic comparison of work and employment relations in factories in the same sector across many countries, and set this in the context of both national political and market conditions and wider international processes of market rivalry and corporate concentration. As such they demonstrate the great value of a comparative approach to contemporary industrial change.' - Tony Elger, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, UK
An illuminating comparison between employment strategies in Britain and three countries in south-east Asia.' - The Financial Times
List of Tables and Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
The World of White Goods - Markets, Industry Structure and Dynamics
The View from the UK: Mature Markets, High Imports and Other Problems
South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe: White Goods in Post-Colonial Societies
China: The Rise of the Foreign Investment and the Transformation of Labour Relations
Taiwan: The Disappearance of the 'Golden Tale' - Employment Relations in a Japanese Joint Venture
Turkey: White Goods in the 'EU Periphery'
Brazil: Between Global Trends and National Politics - Restructuring and Workers' Responses
Labour in a Global World - Some Comparisons
Index
THEO NICHOLS is Distinguished Research Professor, in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. He has written widely in the general field of economic sociology, including ownership and control, management and management ideology, class consciousness, productivity and industrial injuries. His latest book, on Turkish workers and modern industry, Global Management and Local Labour (written with Nadir Sugur) was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2004.
SURHAN CAM was formerly Research Fellow at the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. He is currently Research Fellow at the Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University, where he is engaged in a survey on the problem-solving strategies of unorganised workers in Britain. He has a special interest in neo-liberalism.
Description
This book gets behind much generality implicit in the term 'globalisation'. It does so by focussing upon one particular sector, so-called white goods. Such goods - mainly represented here by refridgeration and cooking appliances - are a taken-for-granted part of many people's lives and the study of this sector permits close examination of world-wide similarities and differences in a concrete context. The book is based on original investigations of industry development and the nature of work in the white goods sector in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and the UK. As such, it provides a rich source of information on the conditions under which these commodities are produced in different countries. It makes a unique contribution, among other things, to the understanding of the impact of social structure on production relations; the nature of factory regimes; the role of the state in employee relations; the variable nature of trade unions; the diffusion of management methods and what these entail for workers; and more generally on the meaning of work.
Reviews
'This book makes an innovative contribution to our understanding of the ways in which workers across the world experience both the dynamic and uneven character of contemporary globalisation. The authors develop a systematic comparison of work and employment relations in factories in the same sector across many countries, and set this in the context of both national political and market conditions and wider international processes of market rivalry and corporate concentration. As such they demonstrate the great value of a comparative approach to contemporary industrial change.' - Tony Elger, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, UK
An illuminating comparison between employment strategies in Britain and three countries in south-east Asia.' - The Financial Times
Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
The World of White Goods - Markets, Industry Structure and Dynamics
The View from the UK: Mature Markets, High Imports and Other Problems
South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe: White Goods in Post-Colonial Societies
China: The Rise of the Foreign Investment and the Transformation of Labour Relations
Taiwan: The Disappearance of the 'Golden Tale' - Employment Relations in a Japanese Joint Venture
Turkey: White Goods in the 'EU Periphery'
Brazil: Between Global Trends and National Politics - Restructuring and Workers' Responses
Labour in a Global World - Some Comparisons
Index
Authors
THEO NICHOLS is Distinguished Research Professor, in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, UK. He has written widely in the general field of economic sociology, including ownership and control, management and management ideology, class consciousness, productivity and industrial injuries. His latest book, on Turkish workers and modern industry, Global Management and Local Labour (written with Nadir Sugur) was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2004.
SURHAN CAM was formerly Research Fellow at the School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University. He is currently Research Fellow at the Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University, where he is engaged in a survey on the problem-solving strategies of unorganised workers in Britain. He has a special interest in neo-liberalism.
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