Work in the Global Economy

In a volume on the significance of the cultural study of work, Harper and Lawson (2003: p. xvi) state: ‘There is no greater issue in the current configuration of work than globalization.’ Without doubt, globalization is a force to be reckoned with in the world of work. Economic relations are becoming increasingly globalized and the mobility of finance capitalism challenges the capacity of nation states to control market actors through political action. Labour markets, too, are more tightly connected to each other across nation states. Globalization moves jobs such as software development, customer services and assembly work to different places in the world depending on proficiency, wage levels and production costs. In the search for new markets and profitable production arrangements, business organizations are outsourcing and externalizing their operations across great distances. Such organizations challenge established boundaries—spatial, organizational and cultural—and contribute to the web of global interconnectedness. They play a vital role in organizing people, ideas and products, and contribute to restructuring and transforming the experience of work for a large proportion of the workforce.1