Suchergebnisse

The chapter discusses the effects of globalization on the expanding class of "contingent" (ie, temporary, part-time, & low-paid) workers in the US, a situation that maximizes corporate profits while denying workers job stability, benefits, or the possibility of union solidarity. A discussion of the conceptualization of contingent labor is followed by a consideration of types of contingent workers (eg, temporary, part-time, day laborers, independent contractors, & on-call workers). Next the author addresses personnel-management, legal, & labor-union problems that have arisen from the growing corporate dependency on a contingent workforce. He concludes that government & academic researchers need to broaden their frameworks & measures for estimating the actual numbers & labor conditions of contingent workers. He suggests that despite the corporate profitability of reliance on this type of workforce, the pitfalls delineated may serve to limits its further expansion in the twenty-first century. K. Coddon

Enthusiastic youth volunteers were a common sight on Poland's 'great building site of socialism' of the Stalin era, the steelworks and new town of Nowa Huta. Paradoxically, however, the succesful mobilisation of youthful labour in Nowa Huta was accompanied by failure to socialise volunteers in their attitudes and behaviours after hours. Preferring jazz to mass songs and speak-easies to 'red corners', brigade members gained notoriety as 'hooligans', and many encountered difficulties adapting to 'civilian' life in the new town. The regime's inability to bridge the gulf between itself and Nowa Huta's youth volunteers, the author argues, reflects Polish Stalinism's critical failure to secure legitimacy among its potentially strongest supporters.

Environmental opposition groups have often formed in rural communities as a response to sweeping environmental regulations. They do not match the stereotypes of nongovernmental organizations funded by extractive resource industries, but have a solid grass-roots membership that is stalling, if not altogether thwarting, the momentum of the environmental movement. 40 References. Adapted from the source document.