Confronting Globalization

Abstract

Mexico is unique in Latin America in that it has one of the strongest bodies of labor law (on paper) in the region; but there are also the problems of deficient state enforcement capacity and weak unions that are seen in poorer countries. This context has opened a space for new actors and the use of alternative approaches to protect labor that extend beyond conventional government-based policies. The state of Puebla is ideal for observing the impact of alternative strategies because it has been an authoritarian enclave, tightly controlled by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) that governed Mexico for seventy-five years?so the government does little to enforce labor rights and, indeed, often impedes their exercise. Case studies demonstrate that under certain conditions, other factors can help counteract such political challenges. The focus here is on two key cases, Mexmode and Volkswagen, that illustrate broader patterns in Puebla and, indeed, throughout Mexico.