NAFTA and Labor in North America


Book Description

A cogent analysis of North American trade unions' precipitous decline in recent decades




Consuming Mexican Labor


Book Description

Mexican migration to the United States and Canada is a highly contentious issue in the eyes of many North Americans, and every generation seems to construct the northward flow of labor as a brand new social problem. The history of Mexican labor migration to the United States, from the Bracero Program (1942-1964) to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), suggests that Mexicans have been actively encouraged to migrate northward when labor markets are in short supply, only to be turned back during economic downturns. In this timely book, Mize and Swords dissect the social relations that define how corporations, consumers, and states involve Mexican immigrant laborers in the politics of production and consumption. The result is a comprehensive and contemporary look at the increasingly important role that Mexican immigrants play in the North American economy.




The Children of NAFTA


Book Description

This is a journalistic chronicle of contemporary labor wars and organizing on the United States/Mexican border. Based on gripping firsthand reports, this book investigates the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on those who labor in the agricultural fields and maquiladora factories on the border.




The State of Working America, 2000-2001


Book Description

Prepared biennially since 1988 by the Economic Policy Institute, this work includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, taxes, unemployment, wealth and poverty, allowing the authors to examine the effect of the economy on the living standards of the American people.




The State of Working America 2006/2007


Book Description

Praise for previous editions of The State of Working America: "The State of Working America remains unrivaled as the most-trusted source for a comprehensive understanding of how working Americans and their families are faring in today's economy."--Robert B. Reich"It is the inequality of wealth, argue the authors, rather than new technology (as some would have it), that is responsible for the failure of America's workplace to keep pace with the country's economic growth. The State of Working America is a well-written, soundly argued, and important reference book."--Library Journal "If you want to know what happened to the economic well-being of the average American in the past decade or so, this is the book for you. It should be required reading for Americans of all political persuasions."--Richard Freeman, Harvard University "A truly comprehensive and useful book that provides a reality check on loose statements about U.S. labor markets. It should be cheered by all Americans who earn their living from work."--William Wolman, former chief economist, CNBC's Business Week "The State of Working America provides very valuable factual and analytic material on the economic conditions of American workers. It is the very best source of information on this important subject."--Ray Marshall, University of Texas, former U.S. Secretary of Labor"An indispensable work . . . on family income, wages, taxes, employment, and the distribution of wealth."--Simon Head, The New York Review of Books "No matter what political camp you're in, this is the single most valuable book I know of about the state of America, period. It is the most referenced, most influential resource book of its kind."--Jeff Madrick, author, The End of Affluence "This book is the single best yardstick for measuring whether or not our economic policies are doing enough to ensure that our economy can, once again, grow for everybody."--Richard A. Gephardt "The best place to review the latest developments in changes in the distribution of income and wealth."--Lester ThurowThe State of Working America, prepared biennially since 1988 by the Economic Policy Institute, includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, taxes, unemployment, wealth, and poverty-data that enable the authors to closely examine the effect of the economy on the living standards of the American people.




NAFTA


Book Description

"October 1993." Includes bibliographical references (p. 186-189) and index.




The Limits of Regionalism


Book Description

Assessing the effectiveness of the North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation, this interview-based study examines the operation of the core institutions (the Secretariat and National Administrative Offices) over the past seven years.




NAFTA Revisited


Book Description




The Neoliberal Diet


Book Description

This “remarkable, comprehensive” study of neoliberal agribusiness and the obesity epidemic “is critical reading for food studies scholars” (Contemporary Sociology). Obesity rates are rising across the United States and beyond. While some claim that people simply eat too much “energy-dense” food while exercising too little, The Neoliberal Diet argues that the issue is larger than individual lifestyle choices. Since the 1980s, the shift toward neoliberal regulation has enabled agribusiness multinationals to thrive by selling a combination of meat and highly processed foods loaded with refined flour and sugars—a diet that originated in the United States. Drawing on extensive empirical data, Gerardo Otero identifies the socioeconomic and political forces that created this diet, which has been exported around the globe at the expense of people’s health. Otero shows how state-level actions, particularly subsidies for big farms and agribusiness, have ensured the dominance of processed foods and made fresh foods inaccessible to many. Comparing agrifood performance across several nations, including the NAFTA region, and correlating food access to class inequality, he convincingly demonstrates the structural character of food production and the effect of inequality on individual food choices. Resolving the global obesity crisis, Otero concludes, lies not in blaming individuals but in creating state-level programs to reduce inequality and make healthier food accessible to all.




Mexican Workers and the State


Book Description

Almost eighty years before the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Ricardo Flores Magón--revolutionary, anarchist, labor organizer and expatriate nationalist--challenged the prevailing social order of both Mexico and the United States. Magón predicted that if Mexican workers failed to organize and shake off the yoke of capitalism, the nation would soon be dominated by foreign economic interests. And American workers, he warned, would find their firms and factories employing low-wage laborers in Mexico. Magón's message: "Mexico for Mexicans." Organized labor, however, would never gain a strong foothold in Mexico. Although the Constitution of 1917 guaranteed the right of workers to organize and strike, government restrictions, a historically unstable economy and meddling by the American interests (including the IWW and the AFL), combined to limit the effectiveness of Mexican unions. "Mexico for Mexicans," or working-class nationalism, was and is little more than rhetoric. In Mexican Workers and the State, historian Norman Caulfield traces the evolution of organized labor from its radical roots during the Mexican Revolution to its present status as a mere pawn in the game of Mexican politics. The implementation of NAFTA in 1993 has been beneficial to some (almost one million low-wage workers are employed in the maquila industries south of the border), but it has also aggravated the question of workers' rights. Outside industries continue to play an unsettling role in the vacillating Mexican economy. Ricardo Flores Magón's 1914 prediction was right. Mexico has become a haven for foreign interests. Material on which Mexican Workers and the State is based has won the Harvey Johnson Award from the Southwestern Council of Latin American Studies.