Choudry, Aziz and Thomas Collombat (eds.) (2012) Special issue on 'New Voices on Labour Precarity and Resistance / Nouvelles voix sur la précarité du travail et sur la résistance ouvrière', Labour, Capital and Society, Vol.45/1.
This Special Issue of Labour, Capital and Society on New Voices on
Labour Precarity and Resistance / Nouvelles voix sur la précarité du
travail et sur la résistance ouvrière, with the help of contributing
editors Aziz Choudry and Thomas Collombat, might seem to mark a
departure from our regular focus on labour issues in Africa, Asia and
Latin America given the presentation of cases in Canada, the United
States and Europe. Yet the focus on greater labour precarity, new forms
of organizing and resistance in several countries of the North further
contributes to our understanding of the effects of neoliberal
globalization on workers and communities.
The articles focus on the increased precarity of
employment that disproportionally affects marginalised, migrant and
immigrant workers. As the practice of guest workers is receiving growing
acceptance in countries of the North, many of these workers are from
low-wage countries of the South and examining this issue allows us to
further strengthen the North/South nexus. This issue also offers another
view of current working conditions which is requiring workers to be
mobile, in addition to being flexible, whether within their own country
or across borders. This is further explored in an article that brings
together workers in Toronto and San Salvador, each group facing
different versions of neoliberal austerity. Finally, the articles also
examine the nature of worker precarity brought about by the increased
role of temporary employment agencies and home-based work in the care
sector, especially among child care workers. Yet in spite of what might
be considered a grim picture of new working conditions and consistent
threats against established labour organizations, the authors strike a
hopeful note as they explore new forms of organizing and especially the
growth of worker resistance that is emerging from these new forms of
work.
