Awards

• Winner of Winner of the 2007 Sociology of Labor Book Award (.

Overview

Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? challenges the myth of globalization's homogenizing power, arguing that the uniqueness of place is becoming more, not less important. Steven McKay documents how multinational firms secure worker control and consent by reaching beyond the high-tech factory and into local labor markets. He also traces the rise of a new breed of privatized export processing zones, revealing the state's-in these cases, the Philippines-revamped role in the wider politics of global production. Finally, McKay gives voice to the women workers themselves, as they find meaning, identity, and agency on and beyond the ""new"" shop floor. This book deftly weaves together three critical strands of global studies: Southeast Asia as a key site of global production, the organization of work in advanced electronics, and working-class conditions under globalization. Drawing on the author's rich analysis of four multinational electronics firms-from their boardrooms to boarding houses-Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? makes a unique contribution to the study of work, labor, and high-tech production.

Full Product Details

9780801488948

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Reviews

Steven McKay's empirical data is rich, his writing is clear and informative, and the cases he examines display a fascinating range of workplace politics within a broadly similar national, technological, and market context. Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? will have a wide audience in sociology, industrial relations, and among critical scholars of globalization. Sean O'Riain, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

"""Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? accomplishes the all too rare feat of marshalling rich empirical research to arrive at important new theoretical insights on an issue""The nature of industrial relations under the twin regimes of neoliberal globalization and flexible production'that matters. This book deserves wide notice.""-Industrial and Labor Relations Review ""Working in the best traditions of industrial ethnography Steven McKay shows how globalization, far from being the cliched homogenizing force, fans out into a variety of production regimes. There's no best practice, but a wide range of locally sensitive managerial strategies to elicit worker commitment. Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? is a must-read for all those who study work and politics.""-Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley ""This important and original book addresses workplace and labor issues of global significance. To my knowledge, there has not previously been an in-depth study of the developmental strategy or high-tech industrial production in the Philippines. Steven McKay's comparative case-study design is admirable and shows the variation across four firms in a single industry. His discussions of the more technical aspects of high-tech production are readily comprehensible to general readers. This book's firm-level data and worker narratives are rich, revealing, and at times moving.""-Ching Kwan Lee, University of Michigan ""Steven McKay's empirical data is rich, his writing is clear and informative, and the cases he examines display a fascinating range of workplace politics within a broadly similar national, technological, and market context. Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? will have a wide audience in sociology, industrial relations, and among critical scholars of globalization.""-Sean O'Riain, National University of Ireland, Maynooth"

Working in the best traditions of industrial ethnography Steven McKay shows how globalization, far from being the clich d homogenizing force, fans out into a variety of production regimes. There's no best practice, but a wide range of locally sensitive managerial strategies to elicit worker commitment. Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? is a must-read for all those who study work and politics. -Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley

Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? accomplishes the all too rare feat of marshalling rich empirical research to arrive at important new theoretical insights on an issue The nature of industrial relations under the twin regimes of neoliberal globalization and flexible production'that matters. This book deserves wide notice. -Industrial and Labor Relations Review Working in the best traditions of industrial ethnography Steven McKay shows how globalization, far from being the cliched homogenizing force, fans out into a variety of production regimes. There's no best practice, but a wide range of locally sensitive managerial strategies to elicit worker commitment. Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? is a must-read for all those who study work and politics. -Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley This important and original book addresses workplace and labor issues of global significance. To my knowledge, there has not previously been an in-depth study of the developmental strategy or high-tech industrial production in the Philippines. Steven McKay's comparative case-study design is admirable and shows the variation across four firms in a single industry. His discussions of the more technical aspects of high-tech production are readily comprehensible to general readers. This book's firm-level data and worker narratives are rich, revealing, and at times moving. -Ching Kwan Lee, University of Michigan Steven McKay's empirical data is rich, his writing is clear and informative, and the cases he examines display a fascinating range of workplace politics within a broadly similar national, technological, and market context. Satanic Mills or Silicon Islands? will have a wide audience in sociology, industrial relations, and among critical scholars of globalization. -Sean O'Riain, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Author Information

Steven McKay is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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