Labor, Class, and the International System

Labor, Class, and the International System explores the interface between the labor process, class structure, and the global requirements of accumulation as a necessary complement to the analysis of capital and dominant institutions and focus on this interaction to clarify some of the apparent contradictions and bring the general models in line with empirical reality. The book provides analysis of concepts and hypotheses derived from general theory with available empirical knowledge on each particular topic. Each chapter addresses problem areas namely, international migration; pre-capitalist modes of production and the reproduction of the urban labor force; and dominant ideologies of inequality and class structure. Sociologists, political scientists, economists, researchers, and students of international studies will find the book very interesting and insightful.

ContentsPreface 1 Introduction The World-System Perspective Subprocesses in the World-System A Research Agenda 2 International Migration: Conditions for the Mobilization and Use of Migrant Labor under World Capitalism Introduction Early Labor Migrations Theoretical Perspectives: A Critique Inducement to Migration The Release and Transportation of Migrant Labor Conditions for the Use of Migrant Labor Network Building: The Microstructures of Migration Summary 3 Unequal Exchange and the Urban Informal Sector Introduction Theoretical Review Critique Hyper-urbanization and the Informal Sector The Informal Sector and Peripheral Accumulation Reproduction of the Working Class Constraints on the Expansion of the Working Class Conclusion 4 Ideologies of Inequality and Their Transformation in the Periphery: The Case of Latin America Introduction Patrimonialism Positivism Marginality Developmentalism Conclusion 5 The Internationalization of Capital and Class Structures in the Advanced Countries: The United States Case Introduction Aspects of the Internationalization of Capital Consequences of the Internationalization of Capital for Domestic Labor, Capital, and National Income Institutional Consequences of the Internationalization of Capital The Changing Structure of Social Class Conclusion 6 Conclusion References Index