Cross-National Comparisons of Social Movement Unionism

For the past two decades efforts to halt the decline in union numbers and revitalize the labour movement have largely resided in social movement unionism (SMU). In the first English-language book to compare SMU in Japan, Korea and the United States, scholars from the three countries examine its emergence as a response to neoliberal globalization. Cross-National Comparisons of Social Movement Unionism moves beyond previous studies of SMU and union revitalization which have focussed on the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. The eleven chapters offer empirical and theoretical analyses of the impact of SMU on existing labour movements, and explain the mediating factors that account for the diversity of SMU across national boundaries, arguing that its forms and activities are mediated by different institutional, political and economic contexts.

Autorentext

Akira Suzuki is Professor at the Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University in Tokyo. He has written numerous articles in English and in Japanese on industrial relations and labour history in Japan and on social movement unionism in Japan and the United States.

Inhalt

Contents: Akira Suzuki: Introduction: Theoretical and Empirical Issues of Cross-national Comparisons of Social Movement Jennifer Jihye Chun: The Power of the Powerless: New Schemas and Resources for Organizing Workers in Neoliberal Times Akira Suzuki: The Limits and Possibilities of Social Movement Unionism in Japan in the Context of Industrial Relations Institutions Joohee Lee: A Renewal of Solidarity or Continued Decline? The Korean Retail Workers Struggles against Neoliberalism Nobuyuki Yamada: The Diversity of Social Movement Unionism: Towards a Cross-National, Comparative Framework Minjin Lee: Varieties of Community Unionism: A Comparison of Community Unionism in Japan and Korea Stephanie Luce: Labour and Community Coalitions: Challenges for Growth Charles Weathers: Political Activism and Union Revival in Australia, the United States and Japan Koshi Endo: Women s Labour NPOs and Women s Trade Unions in Japan Heiwon Kwon: Success While Others Fail: Union Strategy against Railway Restructuring in South Korea Hirohiko Takasu: The Formation of a Region-based Amalgamated Union Movement and Its Possibilities.