Dear Colleagues,

I would like to bring your attention to a new edited volume on the labor movem ents in Japan, Korea, and the US.

Cross-National Comparisons of Social Movement Unionism Suzuki, Akira (ed.) (2012) Cross-National Comparisons of Social Movement Union ism-Diversities of Labour Movement Revitalization in Japan, Korea and the Unit ed States. Oxford: Peter Lang.
ISBN 978-3-0343-0868-7
http://www.peterlang.com/download/datasheet/70593/datasheet_430868.pdf

For the past two decades efforts to halt the decline in union numbers and revi talize the labour movement have largely resided in social movement unionism (S MU). In the first English-language book to compare SMU in Japan, Korea and the United States, scholars from the three countries examine its emergence as a r esponse to neoliberal globalization. Cross-National Comparisons of Social Move ment Unionism moves beyond previous studies of SMU and union revitalization wh ich have focussed on the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Austral ia. The eleven chapters offer empirical and theoretical analyses of the impact of SMU on existing labour movements, and explain the mediating factors that a ccount for the diversity of SMU across national boundaries, arguing that its f orms and activities are mediated by different institutional, political and eco nomic contexts.

Contents

1 Introduction: Theoretical and Empirical Issues of Cross-national Comparisons of Social Movement Unionism (Akira Suzuki)

Part One The Impact of Social Movement Unionism on Existing Labour Movements

2 The Power of the Powerless: New Schemas and Resources for Organizing Workers in Neoliberal Times (Jennifer Jihye Chun)
3 The Limits and Possibilities of Social Movement Unionism in Japan in the Con text of Industrial Relations Institutions (Akira Suzuki)
4 A Renewal of Solidarity or Continued Decline? The Korean Retail Workers' St ruggles against Neoliberalism (Joohee Lee)

Part Two Social Movement Unionism from a Cross-national Perspective

5 The Diversity of Social Movement Unionism: Towards a Cross-National, Compara tive Framework (Nobuyuki
Yamada)
6 Varieties of Community Unionism: A Comparison of Community Unionism in Japan and Korea (Minjin Lee)

Part Three Meso-level Mediating Factors Explaining the Diversities of Social M ovement Unionism

7 Labour and Community Coalitions: Challenges for Growth (Stephanie Luce)
8 Political Activism and Union Revival in Australia, the United States and Jap an (Charles Weathers)
9 Women's Labour NPOs and Women's Trade Unions in Japan (Koshi Endo)
10 Success While Others Fail: Union Strategy against Railway Restructuring in South Korea (Heiwon Kwon)
11 The Formation of a Region-based Amalgamated Union Movement and Its Possibil ities (Hirohiko Takasu)

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Akira Suzuki, Ph.D.
Professor, the Ohara Institute for Social Research Hosei University
E-mail: insmove[at]hosei.ac.jp

Address:
The Ohara Institute for Social Research, Hosei University
4342 Aihara-Machi Machida-Shi Tokyo, 194-0298, Japan Tel : 042-783-2317 Fax : 042-783-2311
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