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Informationen zum Autor Susan L. Kang Klappentext 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. Zusammenfassung Susan L. Kang analyzes comparative case studies of campaigns by trade unions to link local labor rights disputes to international human rights frameworks. She finds that contingent political incentives! rather than normative arguments! compel governments to make reforms to better protect these fundamental human rights. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface List of Abbreviations Chapter 1. The Precarious Position of Trade Union Rights in the Global Political Economy Chapter 2. Negotiations and Norms: The Development of Trade Union Rights in International Law and Institutions Chapter 3. International Institutions and Their Protections of Trade Union Rights Chapter 4. South Korea: International Ambitions and the Postdevelopmental State Chapter 5. United Kingdom: New Labour and New Labor Rights? Chapter 6. Canada: Federalism and Stalled Compliance Conclusion. International Norms, Trade Union Rights, and Countering Neoliberalism Appendices I. Kucera's Measure of Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining II. Number of Unions/Unionization Rate in Korea: 1987-2003 Percentage of GPD Growth in Korea, 1961-2006 III. British Columbia Annual Growth, in Percentage of Provincial GDP IV. Case Disputes and U.S. Law Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments ...
