Solidarity First: Canadian Workers and Social Cohesion - Softcover

9780774814409: Solidarity First: Canadian Workers and Social Cohesion

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0774814403 ISBN 13: 9780774814409

Publisher: UBC Press, 2009

As working people’s lives become increasingly fragmented, competitive, and unequal, debates about social cohesion capture the unease of contemporary society over growing economic restructuring. Solidarity First examines the concept and practice of social cohesion in terms of its impact on, and significance for, workers in Canada.

Contributors examine how social cohesion functions on multiple levels. They challenge standard approaches by highlighting the experiences of women and non-Canadians. They investigate attempts by Toyota and Magna to construct corporate forms of cohesion and efforts by a local community to forge cohesion via the new cultural economy. And they explore the relationship between cohesion in Canada and the international environment.

Critically examining the issue from the ground up, Solidarity First concludes that reinvigorated worker solidarity is a prerequisite to a more worker-friendly form of social cohesion. It will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of public policy, political science, sociology, and labour studies.

Contributors include Roy Adams, Holly Gibbs, Belinda Leach, Wayne Lewchuck, Mark Thomas, Larry Haiven, Leah Vosko, Don Wells, and Charlotte Yates.

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Book Description:

This timely and important book critically examines the concept and practice of social cohesion, and its significance for workers in Canada.

From the Back Cover:

Debates around social cohesion capture the unease of contemporary society in the face of growing inequality and economic restructuring. Solidarity First examines the concept and practice of social cohesion from the perspective of its impact on, and significance for, workers.

Contributors examine the functioning of social cohesion at multiple levels. Standard approaches are challenged by highlighting the experiences of women and non-Canadians. The attempts by Toyota and Magna to construct corporate forms of cohesion and efforts by a local community to forge cohesion via the new cultural economy are investigated. The relationship between cohesion in Canada and the international environment is examined by considering the international activity of Canadian civic actors, the failure of Canada to live up to international labour obligations, and the implications of International Labour Organization reforms for informal sector workers.

Solidarity First concludes by arguing that reinvigorated worker solidarity is a prerequisite to moving toward a more worker-friendly form of social cohesion.

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