Labor 335: Globalization and Labor
Please answer each question in clear, complete sentences. Draw from the texts and powerpoint slides that we have discussed so far this semester. Be sure to use your own words rather than inserting quotations from the class readingsto answer the following questions.
- McMichael describes the roughly three decades following WWII as the “development project” era. What were the characteristics of that period?
- The breakdown of the “development project” era resulted in a global debt crisis, particularly for countries in Africa and Latin America. Describe how this debt crisis was used to restructure the economies of poor countries, heralding the “globalization project” era.
- [“Thinking” Question] Munck quotes Marx’s line that the global working class was “born in blood,” referencing the, often violent,nature of work and profitmaking in the development of global capitalism. How have workers, both paid and unpaid, been essential to the development of the global economy as we know it today.
- What is NAFTA? How did it impact the U.S. apparel industry as described by Jane Collins in Threads? (Hint: a complete answer will include a reference to commodity chains and Gereffi.)
- Like countries in the Global South, the United States was greatly impacted by global political-economic shifts in the 1970s and ‘80s. But Lichtenstein argues that while globalization was partly to blame for US labor’s woes, a more accurate characterization of the process undermining US workers was “deunionization” rather than “deindustrialization”. What does he mean by this?
- [“Thinking” Question] Global economic and political shifts over the past half century have greatly impacted –often negatively –the ability of workers worldwide to make a living and support their families. What are some strategies that workers have adopted in response to these shifts in order to improve their lives and gain power? Provide concrete examples from the texts we’ve discussed in class.
- The report on restructuring in General Electric’s Lynn and Schenectady plants argues that investment and job creation are shaped by political factors as much as economic factors. What evidence do the authors present to make this argument?
- Rebecca Prentice argues that the ILO-mediated agreement to compensate Bangladeshi victims of the Rana factory collapse should not be viewed as a model for future efforts to get justice for workers embedded in global supply chains. Why does she make this argument?
- Our readings on China suggest that the “race to the bottom” narrative is not the best way to describe MNC investment in China. Why not? (Hint: a complete answer will also define the “race to the bottom” narrative.)
- Drawing from Standing, Breman, and class discussion: Do you think that developments in global capitalism have resulted in the formation of a new class of working people called the “precariat”? Why or why not?