6 x 9. 232 pgs. 1 figure & 5 tables. (2008) Cloth 978-0-472-07042-8 $75.00S  Available Add to Cart Paper 978-0-472-05042-0 $25.95S  Available Add to Cart Search this Book's Content About the Book Praise Look Inside Series Advances in Heterodox Economics Subjects Economics--Globalization / Economics--Labor, Health, and Educational Economics

Are Worker Rights Human Rights?

Richard P. McIntyre



In a global economy, workers must assert their collective rights as workers in order to win human rights as individuals

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Praise for the Book

"McIntyre presents a powerful case for moral and ethical considerations in discussions about globalized trade and labor."
—R.L. Holger, Colorado State University, Choice

"This book presents an insightful, powerful corrective to the contemporary debate over worker rights. McIntyre identifies the limitations of thinking of worker rights as individualized human rights, and challenges us instead to examine how rights are defined through conventional thinking and class interest. The product is rich and compelling: McIntyre's investigation demands of us that we be far more attentive to the contradictory effects of 'rights talk.' I recommend this book enthusiastically to all those who advocate for a just economic order the world over."
---George DeMartino, Associate Professor of Political Economy, The Joseph Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

"Ric McIntyre's book is a timely examination of our modern 'sweating system' and some of the efforts to combat the effects of its 'grab it while you can' ethos on workers through a reinvigorated system of workers' rights. He makes two important contributions with this volume. First, he analyzes the 'sweating system' as an intentional business strategy over the past three decades, now used both by international corporations and local outsourcers to increase the social distance between employer and worker, and to diminish any sense of corporate responsibility for the welfare of their employees. Second, he employs the insights of contemporary heterodox economics, specifically the insights from Marxist, Institutionalist, and Postmodern economists, to understand how the shifting of social norms and conventions have allowed corporations to 'enshrine exploitation of labor,' and to develop an analytical foundation for workers' rights as a counterweight to the voluminous literature on property rights. McIntyre's book is essential reading for all workers who hope for greater dignity in the workplace and greater fairness in society."
---Janet Knoedler, Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

"Ric McIntyre convincingly shows how local actions, regulations changes, and international norms can combine to establish collective rights for workers."
---Gilles Raveaud, Assistant Professor in Economics, University of Saint-Denis, France, and co-founder of the "post-autistic economics movement"

"In a much-needed intervention, Ric McIntyre recasts the debate about globalization and labor rights and speeds us to the heart of the matter: the battle between transnational corporations who distance themselves from responsibility for the fate of workers, and labor activists who seek to reestablish bonds of accountability and moral obligation. The stakes in this struggle are enormous and Dr. McIntyre provides crucial insight into the economic and political dynamics that define it."
---Scott Nova, Executive Director, Worker Rights Consortium, Washington D.C.

"An important, timely, and needed contribution to our understanding of worker rights."
---Patrick McHugh, Associate Professor of Management Science, George Washington University

"An important contribution to the interdisciplinary study of labor. McIntyre's book will challenge the debate over labor rights on all fronts."
---Michael Hillard, Professor of Economics, University of Southern Maine