Transnationalism in the Regulation of Labor Relations: International Regimes and Transnational Advocacy Networks |
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| Authors: | David M. Trubek Jim Mosher Jeffrey S. Rothstein |
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| Affiliation: | David M. Trubek is dean of international studies and Voss-Bascorn professor of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jim Mosher;is a Ph.D. candidate in the UW Department of Political Science and will be Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in Spring 2001. Jeffrey S. Rothstein is the staff coordinator for the Labor and the Global Economy Research Circle of the UW-Madison International Institute and a Ph.D. candidate in sociology. The authors acknowledge the assistance of the many people who helped us with this project. We benefited from participation in UW's Research Circle on Labor and the Global Economy. We particularly acknowledge the assistance of Harry Arthurs, whose pioneering work on legal pluralism and transnationalism in labor law inspired our project. We learned a great deal from Kathy Stone, Jonathan Zeitlin, Maria Lorena Cook, Gay Seidman, and Virginia Leary. Comments by participants in a workshop at the Graduate School of International Studies in Geneva, organized by Professor Leary, and by the students of the Yale Law School 1999 Workplace Policy Seminar directed by Vicki Schultz were helpful. |
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| Abstract: | This paper examines prospects for transnational advocacy and regimes as a way to buttress national labor laws and institutions in an interlocking mosaic and thus ensure the continuation of strong systems of industrial relations under conditions of increasing economic integration. We argue that there is a role for transnational solutions as a supplement to national systems, and we assess the conditions necessary to make this approach effective. We look at a variety of possible actors and arenas that could foster transnationalism and provide illustrations of transnational advocacy and regime building. We conclude that elements of a multilevel, public-private transnational regime are present in some parts of the world and that these elements can occasionally be knit together. We find that prospects for an effective and sustainable system of transnational multi-level regulation are greater when regional integration pacts such as the EU and NAFTA create transnational norms or forums. But, based on preliminary analysis of transnational advocacy and regulation in these two areas, we also conclude that no fully effective system has yet emerged. |
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