Transnational Capital, Urban Globalisation and Cross-Border Solidarity: the Case of the South African Municipal Workers

The article discusses the redefinition of strategies of international solidarity and action in South African organised labour, with particular regard to the South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU). SAMWU has recently been challenged by the pervasive penetration of global capital and multinational corporations in schemes of "PublicÐPrivate partnership" in the delivery of municipal infrastructures. These developments carry potential dangers for trade union organisation and for public services in a context of extreme inequality. SAMWU has identified international action against global capitalism as a decisive terrain of struggle for workers' and citizens' rights. However, the union's difficulties in articulating an effective confrontation at this level reflects broader problems in internationalist approaches adopted by South African labour. These refer primarily to a problematic conceptualisation of new subjects of opposition and of alliances with emerging global social movements.     

Transnational turns for archaeological heritage: From conservation to development,governments to governance

National sentiments have historically overwhelmed global ones in the modern era. Archaeology was born in the service of the nation-state, as a technical means for engaging with the past within a specific calculus of territory, sovereignty, and nationhood. Significant shifts are currently underway, however, towards transnational modes and mechanisms of governance that have arisen in the wake of international dysfunction and neoliberal reforms. Within this emerging field of action it is development, rather than conservation, that shapes the diverse work of archaeological practice in the world. Transnational sociopolitical contexts for archaeological practice most visibly gained traction with multilateral development banks’ turn to heritage development in the 1990s, built around the tenets of participation, capacity-building, and sustainability. From these roots a second generation of concerns has emerged—transnational communities, heritage rights, and global climate change—for archaeological practice attuned to a “politics of engagement” (Mullins 2011 Mullins, P. R. 2011. “Practicing Anthropology and the Politics of Engagement: 2010 Year in Review,” American Anthropologist 113(2): 235–245. doi: 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2011.01327.x[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) in a transnational key.     

Inter-Firm Linkages and Regional Impact of Transnational Corporations: Company Case Studies from Shanghai, China

By undertaking two company case studies in Shanghai, this article reveals that the actual regional impact of direct investment from TNCs is much greater than FDI data themselves may indicate. Such impact extends far beyond foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) as well as the invested regions. The joint venture with the local side controlled by a regional government tends to have fewer suppliers from other regions than the other with the local side owned by a state ministry. Through the extensive linkage networks with FIEs, industrial growth, technology transfer, management improvement and job creation have been indeed spread over many domestic enterprises. The government in the relevant region should employ proper measures to develop these linkages, especially in regions that have difficulties in attracting TNC investment. The two companies studied mirror the general situation in the automotive and the electronics industries, respectively. Further study on the indirect supply linkages with FIEs appears inviting.     

From Migrant Work to Community Transformation: Families Forming Transnational Communities in Periban and Pennsylvania

All across America, Mexican (im)migrants are working and contributingto the economic, cultural, and political life of local communitieson both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. While there are benefitsfor the migrating workers and their families, and for U.S. employersand consumers, circular migration comes with costs, especiallyto family life. While migration between Mexico and the U.S.has become an increasingly important economic strategy for families,the very process that has provided for people's livelihoodshas often torn families apart. Through oral histories with workers,farm owners, and government officials on both sides of the border,this paper explores the creation of transnational families andcommunities, and the consequences of circular migration forwomen, men, and children.