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Value Chains
Award-winning book showcases case studies uncovering the exploitation of labor and class in the Global South Winner of the 2018 Paul M. Sweezy—Paul A. Baran Memorial Award for original work regarding the political economy of imperialism, Value Chains examines the exploitation of labor in the Global South. Focusing on the issue of labor within global value chains, this book offers a deft empirical analysis of unit labor costs that is closely related to Marx’s own theory of exploitation. Value Chains uncovers the concrete processes through which multinational corporations, located primarily in the Global North, capture value from the Global South. We are brought face to face with various s...
Engineering Labour
Engineers, often perceived as central agents of industrial capitalism, are thought to be the same in all capitalist societies, occupying roughly the same social status and performing similar functions in the capitalist enterprise. What the essays in this volume reveal, however, is that engineers are trained and organized quite distinctly in different national contexts. The book includes case studies of engineers in six major industrial economies: Japan, France, Germany, Sweden, Britain and the United States. Through a comparison of these six cases, the authors develop an approach to national differences which both retains the place of historical diversity in the experience of capitalism and accommodates the forces of convergence from increasing globalisation and economic integration. Contributions from: Boel Berner, Stephen Crawford, Kees Gispen, Kevin McCormick and Peter Whalley.
Alternatives to Lean Production
The Swedish auto industry has developed a distinct production design and work organization, exploring alternatives to the assembly line and to the traditional shop-floor hierarchy, with a model of teamwork that increases independent decision making and elicits strong union commitment. Berggren evaluates in detail the reorganization of work within the Swedish auto industry from 1970 to 1990. In his introduction to the new edition, he explores the significance of Volvo's decision to close its two most innovative plants.
Enacting Culture
The Japanese theater scene is characterized by the vibrant coexistence of diverse forms of theater. Alongside well-known classical theater traditions, a stunningly modern scene exists, with an immeasurable number of small theaters. By focusing on the historical and contemporary contexts of how theater culture is enacted, this collection brings together essays on the spectrum of theater in Japan. Through literary and performance analyses and original case studies the collection explores complementary and interdisciplinary aspects of Japan’s performing arts. In an important and unique contribution, this volume includes essays by Japanese and Western scholars written in a mix of English and Japanese. Abstracts of each contribution translated into the opposite language allow readers without knowledge of both languages access to the main ideas of the essays.
Democracy at Work
West Germany from 1949 to 1990 was a story of virtually unparalleled political and economic success. This economic miracle incorporated a well-functioning political democracy, expanded to include a social partnership system of economic representation. Then the Wall came down. Economic crisis in the East—industrial collapse, massive layoffs, a demoralized workforce—triggered gloomy predictions. Was this the beginning of the end for the widely admired German model? Lowell Turner has extensively researched the German transformation in the 1990s. Indeed, in 1993 he was at the factory gates at Siemens in Rostock for the first major strike in post-Cold War eastern Germany. In that strike, and ...
Focus China
Despite the dynamic growth of its economy over the last 20 years, China still has a long way to go to catch up with Japan. In commercial and technological terms, Japan is still the dominant economy in East Asia and is still the leading source of product, production and management innovations in the region, especially in the automotive and electronic industries. However, China is closing the gap year by year. The development of bilateral foreign trade, the increase of Japanese FDI and ODA towards China, and intensified financial and technical co-operation illustrate the considerable potential for mutually profitable business. The Chinese market is opening up and Chinese products are increasingly gaining competitiveness in world markets, threatening the incumbent Japanese firms. Japanese and Chinese companies face each other across a changing competitive environment, which is posing new challenges to corporate and business strategies. Within the context of these developments this book looks from different perspectives at how Japanese companies are reacting to the challenges and opportunities offered by China.
The Politics of West German Trade Unions
First published in 1986, this book assesses the politics of the West German trade unions in the context of their larger role as major actors in the polity. By focusing on the historical realities of the labour movement both before and after 1945, the study explains the extent to which organized labour solidified and challenged the dominant structures of politics and authority. It examines the metalworkers’ union, the construction workers’ union, the printers’ union and the chemical workers’ union and shows how the industrial reality of each organisation helped shape its political outlook and strategic thinking. This book will be of particular interest to students of trade unions, industrial relations and political economy in West Germany.
Fairness and Division of Labor in Market Societies
Contrary to the explanations offered by the theory of non-reflexive, path-dependent institutionalism, the U.S. and the German automotive industries undertook strikingly similar patterns of industry modification under tough international competition during the 1990s, departing from their traditional national patterns. By investigating the processes of the U.S. and German adjustments, the author critically reconsiders the prevalent paradigms of political economy and comes to the conclusion that the evidence does not confirm the neoliberal paradigm. In order to better account for the recomposition of new market relations, which the author terms "converging but non-liberal" and "diverging but not predetermined" markets, he proposes an alternative model of "politics among reflexive agents," emphasizing different kinds of problem-solving practices among those reflexive agents. He argues that different forms and regimes of market are established in the process of recomposition, in which agents reflect upon not only market rationality but also upon their own institutions, creating new norms.
