Solidarity First

Robert O'Brien is the LIUNA-MancinelliProfessor in Global Labour Issues and chair of the Department ofPolitical Science at McMaster University.Contributors: Roy Adams, Holly Gibbs, BelindaLeach, Wayne Lewchuck, Mark Thomas, Larry Haiven, Leah Vosko, DonWells, and Charlotte Yates.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgments1 Introduction: Canadian Workers and Social Cohesion / RobertO'Brien Part 1: Conceptualizing Social Cohesion2 Gendering the Concept of Social Cohesion through an Understandingof Women and Work / Belinda Leach and Charlotte Yates3 Social Cohesion, International Competitiveness, and the"Other": A Connected Comparison of Workers'Relationships in Canada and Mexico / Holly Gibbs Part 2: Constructing Social Cohesion4 Workplace Cohesion and the Fragmentation of Solidarity: The MagnaModel / Wayne Lewchuk and Don Wells5 Working Time and Labour Control in the Toyota Production System /Mark Thomas6 Cultural Production and Social Cohesion amid the Decline of Coaland Steel: The Case of Cape Breton Island / Larry Haiven Part 3: Internationalizing Social Cohesion7 Civil Society Targets the International / RobertO'Brien8 International Labour Norms and Worker Disorganization in Canada /Roy Adams9 ILO Action on "The Scope of the EmploymentRelationship": Lessons from Canada on the Gendered Limits ofFostering Social Cohesion / Leah F. Vosko10 Conclusion: Beyond Social Cohesion / RobertO'Brien NotesReferencesList of ContributorsIndex

Solidarity First is about working class experience in the era of globalization and neo-liberalism; the contributors show how this experience provides an invaluable lens through which to evaluate the discourse and set of practices that go under the label "social cohesion." Well-written and clear, it will be read by researchers in a variety of social science disciplines. - Stephen McBride, co-editor of Global Turbulence: Social Activists' and State Responses to Globalization