GLOBAL DIVISION OF LABOR

Political-Economy Material basis (how economy is organised) structures social, political, cultural form (e.g.. Feudalism – de-centralized political order, hierarchical social relations Capitalist – exchange economy (individual, democracy, legal equality IPE – not only states or corporations, but people – those who work where a person fits in the division of labour determines how long they will live what quality of life they will have

Why study global labour? World Peace – Social Order? Russian Revolution, WWI – concern with worker's social conditions, created the ILO, International Labour Organisation Link between economic insecurity and use of terror ? Social unrest recognised by IMF in Asian Financial assistance. 60% of $16 billion to poor

CHINA: Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft help Chinese government set up great firewall of China by preventing Chinese citizens access to sites critical of Tibet, Taiwan etc. Disney brand - global production of goods outstrip made in USA USA, UK - Outsourcing to India India outsourcing in turn Global Commodity chains

Adam Smith Wealth of Nations Technical division of labor = greater productivity Pin making – artisan labour – 1 pin/day Mechanical labour (specialization of different elements of task) - 4,800 Productivity : skill, repetition, speed, specialisation

Liberal Theory (comparative advantage theory of free trade) Specialization – beneficial to all Critique: Division of labour is not natural but shaped by power relations and history Specialisation can lock countries into low skill, low wage jobs

Atlantic Slave trade Africa – specialise in slaves? Americas – specialise in raw materials? Europeans – specialise in manufacture Role of Force, coercion, POWER, masked in liberal conception of division of labour (gender, ethnicity, environment based critiques)

Division of Labour = how people fit into production process Capitalists/workers Workers – skilled/unskilled International Division of Labour Geographical location Honduras – bananas China – toys Bangladesh -textiles

Global Division of Labor:Link between territory and labour weakened Computer software industry/agricultural peasant labour Background: 2 concepts of organising production Frederick Taylor – scientific management Break down g=factory production into individual tasks Management control over worker time. Deskilled workers, management control

Fordism (Henry Ford) use of Taylorist techniques in factory Mass production, mass consumption, Distinction between manual and mental labour Toyotism – flexible production Technical change, transport, communications/capital mobility hollowing out of manufacturing production in advanced capitalist economies (closing of factories) Knowledge economy

Migration – 150 million (3% of worlds population) living in countries other than the one of their birth Remittances ; Mexicans in US send $3 billion a year back to relatives in Mexico Citizenship beyond states Municipal elections, voting rights to immigrants

China reforms ongoing since million migrate from rural to urban areas (500 million by 2020) Worker unrest- peasants, state lay offs 60-70% of exports from China – non- Chinese corporations Export Processing Zones Agrarian question – China and India