The New Politics of Linkage: India's Opposition to the Workers' Rights Clause

Kolben, Kevin

doi:10.2979/gls.2006.13.1.225

Cited by 14 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Unlike the successful linkage of trade and intellectual property rights described above, the call to link trade and labor rights was soundly rejected by the WTO at the Singapore meeting of 1996 and again at the Seattle meeting of 1999. Scholars have pinned the outcome mainly on opposition from governments, employers, and unions in Asia, who feared protectionism from affluent countries (Kolben 2006). But researchers have not asked the comparative question of why the positions of developing countries proved more successful in this case than in many other WTO negotiations.…”

Section: Trade Labor and Human Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transnational Corporations and Global Governance

Bartley

2018

Annu. Rev. Sociol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scholars and critics often lament that corporations rule the world, but predominant accounts of global governance imply almost the opposite: With theories populated by national governments and intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, it might appear that nearly everyone except corporations writes the rules that govern across borders. This article compiles research on the varied ways in which multinational and transnational corporations have shaped global governance, drawing attention to the contours and limits of corporate power. Corporations can be seen variously as sponsors, inhibitors, and direct providers of global governance. They have, for example, been sponsors of neoliberal trade rules, inhibitors of some labor and environmental regimes, and providers of private standards for finance, safety, sustainability, and human rights. Scholars may be tempted to focus on just one of these roles or to presume unified corporate dominance, but it is important to grapple with all three and to investigate the conditions under which corporate actions are more or less unified and decisive.

show abstract

Section: Trade Labor and Human Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transnational Corporations and Global Governance

Bartley

2018

Annu. Rev. Sociol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The European Union was divided on the issue, with the government of France leading a coalition in favor of creating a linkage between trade and labor standards and the government of United Kingdom leading an anti-linkage coalition (Burgoon 2004). The attempts to include labor standards in the WTO were thwarted by the virtually unanimous opposition of governments of developing countries, with the Indian government being a particularly vociferous critic of the social clause proposal (Kolben 2006).…”

Section: An Application To Global Child Labor Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to diagnose democratic deficits in global politics: the use of the ‘all-affected principle’

Koenig‐Archibugi

2017

Int. Theory

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Is there a ‘democratic deficit’ in global politics? If so, which changes in institutions and practices can mitigate it? Empirically oriented scholars who ask such questions often use as a yardstick the normative principle that people significantly affected by a decision should be able to take part in reaching that decision. This ‘all-affected principle’ is also endorsed by prominent political theorists. However, its most logically consistent interpretation seems so demanding that it casts doubt on the principle’s usefulness to guide the assessment of real-world situations, since it appears to require that virtually everyone in the world should have a say on any proposal or any proposal for proposals. The argument presented here intends to rescue the principle as a tool for empirical assessments of real-world situations by stressing its role in comparative judgments and especially by showing that its implications are not too expansive and/or indeterminate, once we take into account that certain types of prior decisions significantly restrict the agenda of other decisions in a systematic way. The theoretical guidance for empirical research offered in the first part of the article is then illustrated with an application to global child labor policies.

show abstract

“…Such concerns were particularly pronounced among Indian unionists during the 1990s debate: ‘By hijacking [ILO's] functions, the imperialist countries in fact want to completely neutralize the might of workers’ (Centre of Indian Trade Unions [CITU] cited in Van Roozendaal, : 125; also see John and Chenoy, ). ‘We don't see anything to be gained by labour standards operated by a body that is essentially a tool of corporate capitalism’ (CITU cited in Kolben, : 250). However, an ILO–WTO linkage need not imply any ‘operation’ of labour standards by the WTO.…”

Section: Four Propositionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some indication as to what it would mean to ‘clean it up’ can be deduced from a few previous studies (Anner, ; Kolben, ; Pahle, ). Yet the question remains largely unchartered territory, and this is what the present article focuses on.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Workers’ Rights Back In? Propositions towards a Labour–Trade Linkage for the Global South

Pahle¹

2014

Development and Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The idea of forging a linkage between global trade and labour standards has a long history and has been the subject of fierce debate. In a global political economy that incites 'competition for jobs', the idea cannot escape controversy. Crucially, it has failed to win significant support from trade unionists in the global South. Drawing on viewpoints voiced by workers' rights activists in South Africa and Brazil, this article presents four propositions on the features and functions that a labour-trade linkage would have to possess if it is to serve workers' interests, and explores whether and how these may be accommodated by the ILO and WTO regimes. It is argued that a linkage requiring a new single WTO undertaking is out of the question; a linkage would only make sense if it superimposes ILO rule onto the WTO, not the opposite; a linkage should be premised on positive trade measures; and, finally, it should serve the interests of presently unprotected and unorganized workers. Overall, the main challenge of such a linkage would be to achieve the necessary reform within the ILO. I am grateful for the thorough reading and comments of two anonymous Development and Change reviewers (the usual caveats apply), and I would like to express my gratitude towards all the interviewees cited. Development and Change 46(1): 121-147.

show abstract

The New Politics of Linkage: India's Opposition to the Workers' Rights Clause

Abstract: This article examines why India has opposed a World

Cited by 14 publications

References 1 publication

Transnational Corporations and Global Governance

Transnational Corporations and Global Governance

How to diagnose democratic deficits in global politics: the use of the ‘all-affected principle’

Bringing Workers’ Rights Back In? Propositions towards a Labour–Trade Linkage for the Global South

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About