Recasting labour studies in the new millennium

Abstract

Abstract The paper examines the sociological study of labour and argues that in the past it has tended to be Eurocentric, ignoring the innovative labour movements that emerged in the semi-industrialized countries in the seventies and eighties. These new unions are more like social movements anchored in the community. Northern labour movements have a lot to learn from these new unions as they rethink their role under the impact of neo-liberal globalization. The paper suggests that globalization has opened up opportunities for new forms of labour internationalism as well as the possibilities of a revitalization of the northern labour movement. We conclude by suggesting that the restructuring of work has profoundly changed the context in which the self activity of workers takes place. This has implications for the research agenda of sociologists that forces us to cross new boundaries between those who study the new social movements and those who focus on the sociology of work. In a nutshell, there is a need to broaden and deepen the study of labour movements in the new millennium.