Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban Scale

This paper presents an argument for a serious engagement of labour studies with spatial analysis through a focused study on the labour movement in New York City. In it, I wish to make two claims: firstly, that there are spatial foundations to trade union power at the urban scale which are becoming...

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Main Author: Ian MacDonald
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: McMaster University Library Press 2010-05-01
Series:Global Labour Journal
Online Access:https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/1074
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spelling doaj-6eb1b63089674332874f237782cdf2a62021-04-02T21:30:44ZengMcMaster University Library PressGlobal Labour Journal1918-67112010-05-011210.15173/glj.v1i2.1074Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban ScaleIan MacDonald0Université de Montréal This paper presents an argument for a serious engagement of labour studies with spatial analysis through a focused study on the labour movement in New York City. In it, I wish to make two claims: firstly, that there are spatial foundations to trade union power at the urban scale which are becoming more prominent in the current era of neoliberal globalization, and secondly, that local particularities in working class formation and institutionalization are highly relevant, if too often ignored, variables required to understand the current predicament of the American labour movement. The argument is developed by working out an intellectual puzzle posed by the New York case in particular, namely, the continued strength of unions in a city which appears to typify the political economic transformations that have essentially de-unionized the American economy. https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/1074
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Ian MacDonald
spellingShingle Ian MacDonald
Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban Scale
Global Labour Journal
author_facet Ian MacDonald
author_sort Ian MacDonald
title Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban Scale
title_short Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban Scale
title_full Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban Scale
title_fullStr Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban Scale
title_full_unstemmed Exceptional New York? Variations in Neoliberal Labour Relations at the Urban Scale
title_sort exceptional new york? variations in neoliberal labour relations at the urban scale
publisher McMaster University Library Press
series Global Labour Journal
issn 1918-6711
publishDate 2010-05-01
description This paper presents an argument for a serious engagement of labour studies with spatial analysis through a focused study on the labour movement in New York City. In it, I wish to make two claims: firstly, that there are spatial foundations to trade union power at the urban scale which are becoming more prominent in the current era of neoliberal globalization, and secondly, that local particularities in working class formation and institutionalization are highly relevant, if too often ignored, variables required to understand the current predicament of the American labour movement. The argument is developed by working out an intellectual puzzle posed by the New York case in particular, namely, the continued strength of unions in a city which appears to typify the political economic transformations that have essentially de-unionized the American economy.
url https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/1074
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