Book description
Faced with the economic pressures of globalization, many countries
have sought to curb the fundamental right of workers to join trade
unions and engage in collective action. In response, trade unions in
developed countries have strategically used their own governments'
commitments to human rights as a basis for resistance. Since the
protection of human rights remains an important normative principle in
global affairs, democratic countries cannot merely ignore their human
rights obligations and must balance their international commitments
with their desire to remain economically competitive and attractive to investors.
Human Rights and Labor Solidarity analyzes trade unions'
campaigns to link local labor rights disputes to international human
rights frameworks, thereby creating external scrutiny of governments.
As a result of these campaigns, states engage in what political
scientist Susan L. Kang terms a normative negotiation process, in
which governments, trade unions, and international organizations
construct and challenge a broader understanding of international labor
rights norms to determine whether the conditions underlying these
disputes constitute human rights violations. In three empirically rich
case studies covering South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Canada,
Kang demonstrates that this normative negotiation process was more
successful in creating stronger protections for trade unions' rights
when such changes complemented a government's other political
interests. She finds that states tend not to respect stronger
economically oriented human rights obligations due to the normative
power of such rights alone. Instead, trade union transnational
activism, coupled with sufficient political motivations, such as
direct economic costs or strong rule of law obligations, contributed
to changes in favor of workers' rights.
"Whether international human and labor rights instruments
have any 'teeth' or influence is an important question in debates on
globalization, labor policy, and economic development strategies.
Susan L. Kang provides a solid account of the ways they do and the
ways they don't through instructive case studies from countries on
three continents. A valuable addition to the human rights, labor
rights, and globalization literature."-Lance Compa, Cornell University
Susan L. Kang teaches political science at the John Jay College of
Criminal Justice, City University of New York.
