The notion that over the last 25 years the world labor movement has been weakened by a massive relocation of industrial activities from high to low and middle income countries is a myth. Had such a massive relocation actually occurred, the chances are that the world labor movement would have already been revitalized. The main reason why it has not is that in the 1980's the primary destination of the flight of capital has not been low and middle income countries but extraterritorial financial markets. It is still too early to tell what kind of labor movement will eventually develop in response to the restructuring and reorganization of the capitalist world-economy of which the ongoing financial expansion is an expression. But if past experience and present trends are any guide to the future, the chances are that the world labor movement in the twenty-first century will differ in three main respects from its predecessor in the past century: it will be centered on East Asia; it will be more thoroughly and explicitly influenced by race and gender issues; and it will be less statist and nationalist in orientation. Whether it will be more "internationalist" rather than "tribalist" is a question ultimately in the hands of the workers of the world themselves.
- L’articolo costituisce una riflessione sul movimento operaio mondiale. Da una parte, l’autore offre uno schema esplicativo dell’indebolimento del movimento operaio nel contesto della ristrutturazione che ha attraversato l’economia-mondo moderna a fine Novecento. Dall’altra, individua le linee tendenziali per la sua ricostituzione su basi differenti.
I lavoratori del mondo alla fine del secolo
VITALE, Annamaria
1998-01-01
Abstract
The notion that over the last 25 years the world labor movement has been weakened by a massive relocation of industrial activities from high to low and middle income countries is a myth. Had such a massive relocation actually occurred, the chances are that the world labor movement would have already been revitalized. The main reason why it has not is that in the 1980's the primary destination of the flight of capital has not been low and middle income countries but extraterritorial financial markets. It is still too early to tell what kind of labor movement will eventually develop in response to the restructuring and reorganization of the capitalist world-economy of which the ongoing financial expansion is an expression. But if past experience and present trends are any guide to the future, the chances are that the world labor movement in the twenty-first century will differ in three main respects from its predecessor in the past century: it will be centered on East Asia; it will be more thoroughly and explicitly influenced by race and gender issues; and it will be less statist and nationalist in orientation. Whether it will be more "internationalist" rather than "tribalist" is a question ultimately in the hands of the workers of the world themselves.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
