Forces of Labor: Workers' Movements and Globalization Since 1870 (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
"Forces of Labor is fresh, compelling, and a must read for all interested in labor unrest and the future of the world's labor movements."   American Journal of Sociology"By broadening the geography for understanding labor struggles, Silver shows us that these are going strong in many parts of the world even as they have weakened and fizzled in the North Atlantic.  A great contribution to contemporary debates about the politics of contestation."  Saskia Sassen, The University of Chicago"Beverly Silver's new book is a challenge to political economists and economic sociologists and even to those historians who still care about capitalism trajectories.  Avoiding the deceptive poles of both "race to the bottom" pessimism and liberal optimism, availing herself of both an immense database and of deep historical knowledge, Silver traces the recurring rises and declines of the world labor movement along two dimensions of capital mobility: its spatial displacement and its shift to new product lines--both in response to labor militancy.  Sweeping and detailed, ponderous but readable, comparative and historical, this book takes the political economy of world systems to a new level."  Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University