Handbook of Research on the Global Political Economy of Work

Edited by Maurizio Atzeni, Researcher, Centro de Investigaciones Laborales, CEIL/CONICET, Argentina and Professor, Facultad de Economia y Negocios, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile, Dario Azzellini, Professor Doctoral Program in Development Studies, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Mexico, Alessandra Mezzadri, Reader in Global Development and Political Economy, SOAS, University of London, UK, Phoebe Moore, Professor of Management and the Futures of Work, University of Essex, UK and Senior Policy Researcher, International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland and Ursula Apitzsch, Professor of Political Science and Sociology, Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany

This ground-breaking Handbook broadens empirical and theoretical understandings of work, work relations, and workers. It advances a global, intersectional labour studies agenda, laying the foundations for the politically emancipatory project of decolonising the political economy of work.

‘A book that debates from theory and history, to sociology and politics of labour. Essential!’
– Raquel Varela, FCSH- Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal

‘A much needed and comprehensive restatement of a Marxist critique of political economy. The Handbook skilfully combines labour and class to analyze work, exploitation, social reproduction, workers’ resistance, and many other pressing issues in the contemporary global economy.’
– Dev Nathan, Institute for Human Development, India and The New School for Social Research, New York, US

‘This is a much needed Handbook that adds value to the growing literature on the global political economy of work. Its strength lies in the collection of works that, using critical perspectives, puts labor at the center of various interdisciplinary analyses. Offering a comprehensive view—theoretically, geographically, and in terms of work sectors—this bookcollection challenges Eurocentrism in labor studies and highlights how the workings of the world economy can have significant negative impacts on the peoples in the Global South.’
– Intan Suwandi, Illinois State University, US

‘It is rare to find such a stimulating and thorough going collection of intellectually rigorous, empirically grounded and accessible contributions to our understanding of the range and depth of challenges facing us in the political economy of work in the 21st century. This is quite simply an essential set of readings for students, researchers and practitioners alike – an invaluable and exceptional text.’
– Jean Jenkins, Cardiff University, UK

‘The Handbook of Research on the Global Political Economy of Work offers the most pervasive and up-to-date companion to understanding the contemporary ontology of labour exploitation and emancipatory struggles alongside global value chains and new technological developments. By foregrounding social reproductive work, commodified reproduction and class in interplay with sex, gender, age, race and ethnicity, the Handbook is second to none in taking Marxist theorization to the next level.’
– Angela Wigger, Radboud University, the Netherlands