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From National Resistance to International Labour Politics

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Globalization and the Politics of Resistance

Part of the book series: International Political Economy Series ((IPES))

Abstract

Neoliberal integration presents labour with momentous challenges.2 Neoliberal ideology defines the world as one where expanding free trade and investment are the only true sources of economic development and prosperity. Policies that regulate competition, restrict capital mobility, transfer income, protect the disadvantaged, or in any other way interfere with global market expansion and corporate discretion are defined as inimical to progress. Thus, labour and other subordinate social forces are called upon to contest the ideology and practice of neoliberal integration, including the political institutions that promote and manage it. While national acts of resistance are unavoidable and necessary, they are not sufficient.

‘Beyond the built-in agenda, issues which have been proposed by some countries include trade and labour standards (the most potentially controversial of all these subjects).’ Renato Ruggiero, Director-General World Trade Organization (WTO), 28 May 1996.1

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Notes

  1. Renato, Ruggiero ‘The Road Ahead: International Trade Policy in the Era of the World Trade Organization’, report by the Director-General of the WTO, 28 May 1996. At http://www.unicc.org:80/wto/welcome.html; wto/whats_new/press49.html (emphasis added).

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Authors
  1. Dimitris Stevis
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  2. Terry Boswell
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Newcastle upon Tyne, USA

    Barry K. Gills (Reader in International Politics) (Reader in International Politics)

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© 2000 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Stevis, D., Boswell, T. (2000). From National Resistance to International Labour Politics. In: Gills, B.K. (eds) Globalization and the Politics of Resistance. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230519176_10

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