Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Political Economy of Mass Strikes in the Global Crisis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Mass Strikes and Social Movements in Brazil and India

Part of the book series: Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy ((PEPP))

  • 209 Accesses

Abstract

Global capitalism has restructured production networks, and the precarity-informality regime is the basis of those networks at the level of the labour regime. Strikes after 2008 in non-core countries confronted lower growth rates and the scenario of a Kondratieff downswing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The process of unequal exchange also means that the value of a shoe or mobile phone produced in a non-core country is mainly registered in the GDP of the country of sale which is in many cases a country with a higher wage level. This means that mainstream GDP numbers and also trade data rather omit this sort of value transfer and “are simply incapable of explaining the value capture” (Roy 2017, 34).

  2. 2.

    The European model of industrialisation “was sustainable only through the safety valve allowed by the mass emigration to the Americas. It would be absolutely impossible for the countries of the periphery today – who make up 80 % of the world’s people, of which almost half are rural – to reproduce this model. They would need five or six Americas to be able to ‘catch up’ in the same way” (Amin 2014, 15).

  3. 3.

    If the same percentage of the population would emigrate from the Global South as was emigrating from Europe between 1850 and 1920, this would amount to an emigration of 800 million people (Smith 2016, 180).

  4. 4.

    James Cronin agrees in principle but underlines that he does not find any connection between strikes and economic upswing prior to 1850: “Then protest varied more closely with hardship, flaring up during years of high prices or industrial depression; and the most explosive situations arose when consumption and employment crises intersected” (1979a, 126).

  5. 5.

    See also Cronin: “Strike waves appear to come toward the end of either phase of a ‘long wave’ during a short-term upswing” (1979b, 39). The only problem with Kelly’s view is that he adopts Kondratieff’s periodization which would have required a minor strike wave in the mid-1990s. He does not address this contradiction (1998, 83–89).

  6. 6.

    The data on country comparison regarding GDP (purchasing power parity) and population size relies on the CIA Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2001rank.html#ar; https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html#ar. Accessed 30 August 2018.

  7. 7.

    These data go back to the ILO strike statistics on https://www.ilo.org

References

  • Allianz. (2010). The Sixth Kondratieff – Long Waves of Prosperity. https://www.allianz.com/v_1339501901000/media/press/document/other/kondratieff_en.pdf. Accessed 27 May 2018.

  • Amin, S. (1974). Accumulation on a World Scale: A Critique of the Theory of Underdevelopment. New York: Monthly Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amin, S. (2008). Foreword: Rebuilding the Unity of the ‘Labour Front’. In A. Bieler, I. Lindberg, & D. Pillay (Eds.), Labour and the Challenges of Globalization (pp. xiv–xxii). London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amin, S. (2014). Imperialist Rent and the Challenges for the Radical Left. Globalizations, 11(1), 11–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, P. (2016, April 21). Crisis in Brazil. London Review of Books, 38(8), 15–22. https://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n08/perry-anderson/crisis-in-brazil. Accessed 9 June 2018.

  • Balbona, D. L., & Begega, S. G. (2017). Declive de las huelgas y cambios en el repertorio de protesto en España. Arxios, 36–37, 97–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, T. (2012/2013). Marxism and Informal Labour. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 70, 144–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bettelheim, C. (1972). Appendix I: Theoretical Comments. In A. Emmanuel (Ed.), Unequal Exchange (pp. 271–322). London: New Left Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieler, A. (2013). The EU, Global Europe, and Processes of Uneven and Combined Development: The Problem of Transnational Labour Solidarity. Review of International Studies, 39, 161–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bieler, A., & Lindberg, I. (2011). Globalisation and the New Challenges for Transnational Solidarity. An Introduction. In A. Bieler & I. Lindberg (Eds.), Global Restructuring, Labour, and the Challenges for Transnational Solidarity (pp. 3–15). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieler, A., & Morton, A. D. (2014). Uneven and Combined Development and Unequal Exchange: The Second Wind of Neoliberal ‘Free Trade’. Globalizations, 11(1), 35–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bieler, A., Lindberg, I., & Pillay, D. (2008a). The Future of the Global Working Class: An Introduction. In A. Bieler, I. Lindberg, & D. Pillay (Eds.), Labour and the Challenges of Globalization (pp. 1–22). London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieler, A., Lindberg, I., & Pillay, D. (2008b). What Future Strategy for the Global Working Class? The Need for a New Historical Subject. In A. Bieler, I. Lindberg, & D. Pillay (Eds.), Labour and the Challenges of Globalization (pp. 264–285). London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, M. (2016). Rethinking the Political Economy of Development Beyond ‘The Rise of the BRICS’. SPERI Paper No. 30, Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braga, R. (2014). The Lula Moment. Constraints in the Current Peripheral Development Model. In K. Fakier & E. Ehmke (Eds.), Socio-Economic Insecurity in Emerging Economies (pp. 207–218). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brecher, J. (1997). Strike! Revised and Updated Edition. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breman, J., & van der Linden, M. (2014). Informalizing the Economy: The Return of the Social Question at a Global Level. Development and Change, 45(5), 920–940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bremmer, I. (2009, July). State Capitalism and the Crisis. www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/state-capitalism-and-the-crisis. Accessed 31 May 2018.

  • Bresser-Pereira, L. (2010). The Global Financial Crisis and a New Capitalism. Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, 32(4), 499–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callinicos, A. (2009). Imperialism and Global Political Economy. London: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (2012). Networks of Outrage and Hope. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, D. (2012). The Neoliberal Rise of East Asia and Social Movements of Labour: Four Moments and a Challenge. Interface, 4(2), 22–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, J. E. (1979a). The Peculiar Pattern of British Strikes Since 1888. The Journal of British Studies, 18(2), 116–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, J. E. (1979b). Industrial Conflict in Modern Britain. London: Croom Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dangler, J. F. (1994). Hidden in the Home: The Role of Waged Homework in the Modern World Economy. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Labour. (2015). Annual Industrial Action Report 2015. Government of South Africa. http://www.labour.gov.za/DOL/downloads/documents/annual-reports/industrial-action-annual-report/2015/industrualaction_2015.pdf. Accessed 29 Aug 2018.

  • Desai, R. (2013). Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire. London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunlop, J. T. (1948). The Development of Labor Organization: A Theoretical Framework. In R. A. Lester & J. Shister (Eds.), Insights into Labor Issues (pp. 163–193). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, P. K. (1992). Industrial Conflict: Themes and Issues in Recent Research. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 30(3), 361–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehmke, E. (2014). Strategies for Social Protection Provision: A Comparison of Brazil, India and South Africa. In K. Fakier & E. Ehmke (Eds.), Socio-Economic Insecurity in Emerging Economies (pp. 120–132). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmanuel, A. (1972). Unequal Exchange. A Study of the Imperialism of Trade. London: New Left Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández-Kelly, M. P. (1984). ‘For We Are Sold, I and My People’. Women and Industry in Mexico’s Frontier. Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fröbel, F., Heinrichs, J., & Kreye, O. (1980). The New International Division of Labour. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furtado, C. (1962). A pré-revolução brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: Fundo de Cultura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, A., & Bond, P. (2015). Introduction. In P. Bond & A. Garcia (Eds.), BRICS. An Anti-Capitalist Critique (pp. 1–12). London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gereffi, G. (1994). The Organization of Buyer-Driven Global Commodity Chains: How US Retailers Shape Overseas Production Networks. In G. Gereffi & M. Korzeniewicz (Eds.), Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism (pp. 195–122). Westport: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gereffi, G., & Güler, E. (2010). Global Production Networks and Decent Work in India and China: Evidence from the Apparel, Automotive, and Information Technology Industries. In A. Posthuma & D. Nathan (Eds.), Labour in Global Production Networks in India (pp. 103–126). New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grace, E. (1990). Shortcircuiting Labour: Unionising Electronic Workers in Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Insan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harriss-White, B. (2003). India Working: Essays on Society and Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D. (2003). The New Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, J., Dicken, P., Hess, M., Coe, N., & Wai-Chung Yeung, H. (2002). Global Production Networks and the Analysis of Economic Development. Review of International Political Economy, 9(3), 436–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herod, A., & Lambert, R. (2016). Neoliberalism, Precarious Work and Remaking the Geography of Global Capitalism. In R. Lambert & A. Herod (Eds.), Neoliberal Capitalism and Precarious Work (pp. 1–35). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higginbottom, A. (2010, November 13). Underdevelopment as Super-Exploitation: Marini’s Political-Economic Thought. Paper Presented at Historical Materialism Conference, SOAS, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higginbottom, A. (2012/13). Structure and Essence in Capital I: Extra Surplus-Value and the Stages of Capitalism. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 70, 251–270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Imbert, G. (1959). Des mouvements de long durée Kondratieff. Aix-en-Provence: La Pensée Universitaire.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jha, P., Moyo, S., & Yeros, P. (2018, forthcoming). Capitalism and ‘Labour Reserves’: A Note. In: C.P. Chandrasekhar, J. Ghosh (Eds.), Interpreting the World to Change It. Delhi: Tulika Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, J. (1998). Rethinking Industrial Relations. Mobilization, Collectivism and Long Waves. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, P. F. (2013). Production Networks, Place and Development: Thinking Through Global Production Networks in Cavite, Philippines. Geoforum, 44, 82–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerbo, H. R. (1982). Movements of ‘Crisis’ and Movements of ‘Affluence’: A Critique of Deprivation and Resource Mobilization Theory. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 26(4), 645–663.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kondratieff, N. D. (1979). The Long Wave in Economic Life. Review, II(4), 519–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kopala, M., & Budden, J. (2015). The Dog Bone Portfolio, a Personal Odyssey into the First Kondratieff Winter of the Twenty-First Century. Toronto/New York: BPS Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, L. Y. C. (1978). Women Workers in Multinational Companies: The Case of the Electronics Industry in Malaysia and Singapore. Michigan Occasional Papers in Womens’ Studies No. 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marini, R. M. (1973). Dialética da dependência. In R. Traspadini & J. P. Stedile (Eds.), Ruy Mauro Marini. Vida e obra (pp. 130–172). Sao Paulo: Expressao Popular.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, K. (1867). Capital (Vol. 1). Harmondsworth: Penguin. (1976 edition).

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, K. (1894). Capital (Vol. 3). London: Penguin. (1991 edition).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, P. (2012). Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere. The New Global Revolutions. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • May, C. (2013). Die Dissoziation der BRICS im finanzialisierten Kapitalismus. Peripherie, 33(130/131), 222–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer-Ahuja, N. (2017). Die Globalität unsicherer Arbeit als konzeptionelle Provokation: Zum Zusammenhang zwischen Informalität im “Globalen Süden” und Prekarität im “Globalen Norden”. Zeitschrift für Historische Sozialwissenschaft, 2, 264–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMichael, P. (1990). Incorporating Comparison Within a World-Historical Perspective: An Alternative Comparative Method. American Sociological Review, 55(3), 385–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMichael, P. (2000). World-Systems Analysis, Globalization, and Incorporated Comparison. Journal of World-Systems Research, 6(3), 668–690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milios, J., & Sotiropoulos, D. (2009). Rethinking Imperialism: A Study of Capitalist Rule. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mosoetsa, S., Stillerman, J., & Tilly, C. (2016). Precarious Labor: South and North: An Introduction. International Labor and Working-Class History, 89, 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munck, R. (2013). The Precariat: A View from the South. Third World Quarterly, 34(5), 747–762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OICA (International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers). (2012). Production Statistics. http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/2012-statistics/. Accessed 7 Mar 2014.

  • Panimbang, F., & Mufakhir, A. (2018). Labour Strikes in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia, 1998–2013. In J. Nowak, P. Birke, & M. Dutta (Eds.), Workers’ Movements and Strikes in the Twenty-First Century (pp. 21–43). London: Rowman and Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrot, M. (1974). Les ouvriers en gréves. 2 Volumes. Paris: Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posthuma, A., & Nathan, D. (2010). Labour in Global Production Networks in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prashad, V. (2017). The Time of the Popular Front. Third World Quarterly, 38(11), 2536–2545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PUDR. (2013). Driving Force. Labour Struggles and Violation of Rights in Maruti Suzuki India Limited. http://www.pudr.org/?qcontent/driving-force-labour-struggles-and-violation-rights-maruti-suzuki-india-limited. Accessed 2 June 2014.

  • Pun, N. (2016). Migrant Labor in China. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quigley, C. (2012). Kondratieff Waves and the Greater Depression of 2013–2020. https://www.financialsense.com/contributors/christopher-quigley/kondratieff-waves-and-the-greater-depression-of-2013-2020. Accessed 28 May 2018.

  • Roberts, M. (2016). The Long Depression. How It Happened, Why It Happened, and What Happens Next. Chicago: Haymarket Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, M. (2017, June 13). Investment, Profit and Growth. https://thenextrecession.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/investment-profit-and-growth/. Accessed 31 May 2018.

  • Roy, S. (2017). Rent and Surplus in the Global Production Network: Identifying ‘Value Capture’ from the South. Agrarian South, 6(1), 32–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saad-Filho, A. (2014). The ‘Rise of the South’. In L. Pradella (Ed.), Polarizing Development (pp. 62–73). London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saul, J. S. (2014). A Flawed Freedom: Rethinking Southern African Liberation. London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Screpanti, E. (1984). Long Cycles in Strike Activity: An Empirical Investigation. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 25(1), 99–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaxson, N. (2011). Treasure Islands: Tax Havens and the Men Who Stole the World. London: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silver, B. (1991). World-Scale Patterns of Labour-Capital Conflict. In I. Brandell (Ed.), Workers in Third World Industrialization (pp. 217–233). London: Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Silver, B. (2003). Forces of Labor. Workers’ Movements and Globalization Since 1870. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J. (2016). Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century. Globalization, Super-Exploitation and Capitalism’s Final Crisis. New York: Monthly Review Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, C., & Pun, N. (2018). Class and Precarity: An Unhappy Coupling in China’s Working Class Formation. Work, Employment and Society, 32(3), 599–615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Standing, G. (2014). A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sturgeon, T. J. (2001). How Do We Define Value Chains and Production Networks? IDS Bulletin, 32(3), 9–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swider, S. (2015). Building China. Informal Work and the New Precariat. New York: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Viana, N. (2006). A teoria da população em Marx. Boletim Goiano de Geografia, 26(2), 87–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallerstein, I. (1974). The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 16(4), 387–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wälti, S. (2012). The Myth of Decoupling. Applied Economics, 44(26), 3407–3419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Jörg Nowak

Authors
  1. Jörg Nowak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Nowak, J. (2019). The Political Economy of Mass Strikes in the Global Crisis. In: Mass Strikes and Social Movements in Brazil and India. Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05375-8_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation