Labor Geographies: Workers and the Landscapes of CapitalismDiscussions of the geographic transformations wrought by capitalism generally treat corporations as the primary agents of spatial change. We hear of billions of dollars flowing here, factories moving there, venture capitalists opening up new markets, and workers having to "take it or leave it." Yet labor too is increasingly thinking and acting geographically, whether by struggling to impose national contracts; building regional, national, or international links of solidarity; or engaging in debates over local economic development. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the emerging discipline of labor geography. Combining innovative theoretical analysis with empirical case studies from around the world, Herod examines the spatial contexts and scales in which workers live, organize, and work to address particular economic and political problems. The first book-length text of its kind, this is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in working-class life, workers' organizations, and the contemporary dynamics of capitalism. |
Contents
Introduction Labor and Landscapes | 1 |
Toward a Labor Geography | 13 |
Challenging the Global Locally Labor in a Postindustrial Global City | 50 |
Spatial Sabotage Containerization Union Work Rules and the Geography of Waterfront Work | 70 |
Scales of Struggle Labors Rescaling of Contract Bargaining in the US East Coast Longshoring Industry | 102 |
Labor as an Agent of Globalization and as a Global Agent | 128 |
Engineering Spaces of AntiCommunism Connecting Cold War Global Strategy to Local Everyday Life | 161 |
Thinking Locally Acting Globally? The Practice of International Labor Solidarity and the Geography of the Global Economy | 197 |
International Labor Union Activity and the Landscapes of Transition in Central and Eastern Europe | 222 |
Labor Geographies A Conclusion and a New Beginning? | 256 |
NOTES | 270 |
| 303 | |
| 341 | |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR | |
Common terms and phrases
activities actors affiliates AFL-CIO agreement AIFLD Report American argued Association building campaign capitalist cargo carriers Central and Eastern chapter City Communist concerning Confederation consolidators containerization corporations countries Czech Republic dockers East Coast Eastern Europe economic geography economic landscape employers Federation Garment Center geographic scale geography of capitalism global economy goals Gulf Guyana Herod Honduras housing project ICFTU ILA's impacts industry international labor International Metalworkers investment issues Latin America loft manufacturing Marc Rich master contract ment Metalworkers National Labor negotiate neoliberal nomic North Atlantic NYSA off-pier officials operations organizations particular play ports praxis production programs Ravenswood region restructuring role Romania San Pedro Sula seek ship social solidarity space spatial fixes Steelworkers strategy strike structure struggle theorizing tion tional trade union transnational U.S. labor uneven development unionists United urban USWA wages waterfront WFTU whereas World York