Overview

We are currently witnessing some of the greatest challenges to democratic regimes since the 1930s, with democratic institutions losing ground in numerous countries throughout the world. At the same time organized labor has been under assault worldwide, with steep declines in union density rates. In this timely handbook, scholars in law, political science, history, and sociology explore the role of organized labor and the working class in the historical construction of democracy. They analyze recent patterns of democratic erosion, examining its relationship to the political weakening of organized labor and, in several cases, the political alliances forged by workers in contexts of nationalist or populist political mobilization. The volume breaks new ground in providing cross-regional perspectives on labor and democracy in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Beyond academia, this volume is essential reading for policymakers and practitioners concerned with the relationship between labor and democracy.

Full Product Details

Author:   Angela B. Cornell (Cornell University, New York) ,  Mark Barenberg (Columbia University, New York)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 18.50cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 26.10cm
Weight:   0.900kg
ISBN:  

9781108839884

ISBN 10:   1108839886
Pages:   550
Publication Date:   20 January 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction Angela B. Cornell; Part I. Labor and Democracy: Theory and Practice: 1. A new labor law for deep democracy: from social democracy to democratic socialism Mark Barenberg; 2. Labor and democracy: constructing, deepening, and defending citizenship rights Kenneth M. Roberts; 3. Labor's obstacles and democracy's demise Angela B. Cornell; 4. Right-wing populism, illiberal democracy, trade unions, and workers' rights Keith D. Ewing; Part II. History, Politics, and Law: 5. Sectoral bargaining in the United States: historical roots of a twenty-first century renewal Nelson Lichtenstein; 6. The lever and the fulcrum: organizing and bargaining for democracy and the common good Stephen Lerner, Sarita Gupta, Lauren Jacobs, Joseph A. McCartin, and Marilyn Sneiderman; 7. 'Industrial democracy' in the United States, past and present Wilma B. Liebman; 8. Holding on: the decline of organized labor in the U.S. in historical perspective and the implications for democracy Timothy J. Minchin; 9. Unions and the democratic first amendment Charlotte Garden; Part III. Labor, Diversity, and Democracy: 10. Coming apart: how union decline and workplace disintegration imperil democracy Cynthia Estlund; 11. Unions can help white workers become more racially tolerant Paul Frymer, Jacob M. Grumbach, and Thomas Ogorzalek; 12. Attacking democracy through immigration workplace raids Bill Ong Hing; 13. The care crisis: covid-19, labor feminism, and democracy Debora Dinner; Part IV. Country and Regional Perspectives: 14. Labor, workers' rights, and democracy in Latin America Mark Anner; 15. African perspectives on labor rights as enhancers of democratic governance Evance Kalula and Chanda Chungu; 16. Why workers often oppose democracy David Ost; 17. Reclaiming democracy: the challenge facing labor in India Anibel Ferus-Comelo; 18. A critical assessment of democratic labor unionism in South Korea from a feminist standpoint Jaok Kwon; Part V. Labor and Democracy Sectoral Case Studies: Platform Workers, Higher Education, and the Care Industry: 19. Pursuing democratic depth in an age of multinational power and soft labor law: the case of platform worker protests Julia López López; 20. Corporatization of higher education: a crisis of labor and democracy Risa L. Lieberwitz; 21. The fissured welfare state: care work, democracy, and public-private governance Gabriel Winant.

Reviews

'Building on historical analyses of the role of labor in constructing democracy, this most timely and insightful volume explores how globalized capitalism has endangered unions and created conditions eroding democracy the world over. At the same time, it offers compelling advice on how unions can fight these trends through new alliances and forms of mobilization.' Evelyne Huber, Morehead Alumni Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 'Mounting economic inequality; deeply eroded democracy; growing oligarchy and authoritarianism. Labor and Democracy drives home an essential insight about these intertwined crises: You cannot understand how we got in these dire straits - or how we just might reach a better place, without putting a spotlight on organized labor. And you could not ask for a better set of scholars to do the job. These are our premier historians, political scientists, sociologists and labor and employment law scholars, when it comes to thinking large about these problems. Their essays demonstrate how unions have been engines of democracy; how weakening them has helped fuel the rise of oligarchy and authoritarianism; and finally, how law, policy and movement strategies can rebuild organized labor in ways attuned to overcoming ethno-racial divisions, the dilemmas of fissured and precarious work, and the persistent, structural inequities attending care work.' William E. Forbath, Lloyd M. Bentsen Chair in Law, Associate Dean of Research, School of Law, Professor of History, University of Texas, Austin 'Is there a connection between current populist challenges to democracy and earlier troubles of trade unions in maintaining collective worker voice and bargaining? If you have wondered what we know about labor in democracy and what might strengthen democracy at work and in politics, this is the book for you. You will find analyses with which you agree and analyses with which you disagree and hopefully be energized to do more to fight for our rights as citizens and workers.' Richard B. Freeman, Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University and Co-Director of the Labor and Worklife Program at the Harvard Law School 'What does democracy mean in the absence of freedom, justice and equality? Rather than assume workplace democracy, this incisive collection unflinchingly interrogates the active construction of democratic regress. Yet this volume is alive to the potential of this moment, and filled with democratic reimagining for labor writ large. It could hardly be timelier.' Adelle Blackett, Professor of Law & Canada Research Chair in Transnational Labour Law and Development, Director, Labour Law & Development Research Laboratory, Faculty of Law, McGill University

'Building on historical analyses of the role of labor in constructing democracy, this most timely and insightful volume explores how globalized capitalism has endangered unions and created conditions eroding democracy the world over. At the same time, it offers compelling advice on how unions can fight these trends through new alliances and forms of mobilization.' Evelyne Huber, Morehead Alumni Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 'Mounting economic inequality; deeply eroded democracy; growing oligarchy and authoritarianism. Labor and Democracy drives home an essential insight about these intertwined crises: You cannot understand how we got in these dire straits - or how we just might reach a better place, without putting a spotlight on organized labor. And you could not ask for a better set of scholars to do the job. These are our premier historians, political scientists, sociologists and labor and employment law scholars, when it comes to thinking large about these problems. Their essays demonstrate how unions have been engines of democracy; how weakening them has helped fuel the rise of oligarchy and authoritarianism; and finally, how law, policy and movement strategies can rebuild organized labor in ways attuned to overcoming ethno-racial divisions, the dilemmas of fissured and precarious work, and the persistent, structural inequities attending care work.' William E. Forbath, Lloyd M. Bentsen Chair in Law, Associate Dean of Research, School of Law, Professor of History, University of Texas, Austin 'Is there a connection between current populist challenges to democracy and earlier troubles of trade unions in maintaining collective worker voice and bargaining? If you have wondered what we know about labor in democracy and what might strengthen democracy at work and in politics, this is the book for you. You will find analyses with which you agree and analyses with which you disagree and hopefully be energized to do more to fight for our rights as citizens and workers.' Richard B. Freeman, Herbert Ascherman Chair in Economics at Harvard University and Co-Director of the Labor and Worklife Program at the Harvard Law School 'What does democracy mean in the absence of freedom, justice and equality? Rather than assume workplace democracy, this incisive collection unflinchingly interrogates the active construction of democratic regress. Yet this volume is alive to the potential of this moment, and filled with democratic reimagining for labor writ large. It could hardly be timelier.' Adelle Blackett, Professor of Law & Canada Research Chair in Transnational Labour Law and Development, Director, Labour Law & Development Research Laboratory, Faculty of Law, McGill University 'A dramatic sense of urgency runs through the new Cambridge Handbook of Labor and Democracy ... The arguments that run throughout [the book] are contagious and persuasive.' Gary Seidman, ILR Review

Author Information

Angela B. Cornell is a Clinical Professor at Cornell Law School and founding director of the Labor Law Clinic. Her teaching, practice and scholarship focus on domestic and international labor law, and business and human rights. Her research has been published in a number of journals and her analysis has appeared in the New York Times, Economist, and Washington Post and on the BBC and NPR.  Mark Barenberg is Isador and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia University and Director of the Columbia Program on Labor Law and Political Economy. He has taught at the universities of Yale, Harvard, Tokyo, Beijing, Rome, Cologne, and the European University Institute.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions