Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Globalization and Labour or The European Union

Globalization and Labour: The New "Great Transformation"

Author: Ronaldo Munck

This is the first book to offer a comprehensive analysis of labor's worldwide response to globalization. Ronaldo Munck argues that the national period in labor history is decisively over. Now the labor movement is itself acting in a more transnational manner, with workers developing common interests and ways of organizing that transcend national boundaries. Indeed, the trade union movement could play a major role in the regulation of a global economic system now largely out of control.



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The European Union: Economy, Society, and Polity

Author: S Rodroguez Pos

At the beginning of the 21st century the European Union faces twin challenges: the institutional challenge, linked to the processes of greater integration and expansion, and the structural challenge, which will in the medium-run determine the place of the EU in the world. This book deals with this latter set of challenges, focusing on economic aspects, such as competitiveness and cohesion, as well as on other important issues such as ageing, migration, social polarization, and the emergence of regionalism and nationalism.

Booknews

Rodr<'i>guez-Pose (economic geography, London School of Economics, UK) has written an introductory textbook to the EU and the challenges it faces. Among the topics addressed are the problem of competition, the impact of NAFTA, the potential negative impact of economic integration on social cohesion, the high percentage of an aged population, the impact of migration, and the political impact of the EU's expansion to the East. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)



Table of Contents:
List of tables
List of figures
Glossary of terms
Prologue: The Challenges to the European Union1
Pt. IEconomy5
1Competitiveness7
The stages of economic integration8
Economic integration as a means to achieve competitiveness11
The impact of economic integration21
2Cohesion34
National and regional disparities in the EU34
European development policies41
The efficiency of European development policies after the reform of the Structural Funds53
Pt. IISociety63
3Ageing65
Demographic change in the EU65
The factors behind ageing79
Policies aimed at tackling demographic change82
4Migration and xenophobia89
Migration and its forms90
Mass migration in post-war Europe92
The renewal of migration in the 1990s96
The European response to migration105
5Unemployment and social polarization113
Employment change in the post-industrial age114
The roots of persistently high unemployment123
The impact of labour market flexibility on unemployment129
Pt. IIIPolity137
6Enlargement139
Change in central and eastern Europe140
The different transitions in central and eastern Europe142
Enlargement and European integration155
7Regionalism and regionalization163
Regional devolution in Europe163
The transfer of power from the nation state to the regions175
The roots of the regionalization process178
Towards a 'Europe of the Regions'?181
References185
Index193

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