BA (Hons) International Labour and Trade Union Studies

Summary

The expansion of the EU, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the creation of the World Trade Organisation and rapid economic growth in China and India can all be seen as political and economic responses to the latest phase of globalisation. Whilst these global power shifts clearly pose major challenges for individual governments, what about the workers involved and the organisations that represent them? How are they doing in the global economy?

Some commentators believe that globalisation will lead to a general raising of living standards as the fruits of economic growth are more widely distributed. By contrast, others argue that it will put untold pressure on workers all over the world as they compete to cut costs in a ‘race to the bottom’.

What can be done to ensure that the outcomes of globalisation are both favourable and equitable for workers and sustainable for our society? How can we maintain decent standards of employment in the face of rapid changes in technology, privatisation, off-shoring and the seemingly never ending rise in the political and economic influence of multi national companies?

How well are the international regulatory bodies keeping pace with these changes and how effective has the response of the trade union movement- both nationally and internationally- been to these pressures?

The BA programme in International Labour and Trade Union Studies has been designed to examine these questions.