Worker Rights and Labor Standards in Asia’s Four New Tigers A Comparitive Perspective

Four of the world's most rapidly growing economies can be found in the Asian nations of China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. As these countries become economic powers, questions arise regarding the fate of those whose labor drives this dynamic growth. How has the status of workers changed during this period of progress? Can the issue of labor standards be fairly addressed by governments long considered repressive? Worker Rights and Labor Standards in Asia's Four New Tigers examines the difficult road traveled by human rights movements in these countries when trying to create free, independent labor organizations in the face of governmental interference. The book's in-depth look into this compelling phenomenon includes: why Indonesia's president Sukarno has failed to recognize the S.B.S.I., Asia's largest suppressed union; the contributing factors to Thailand's continuing inability to foster a healthy, sustainable labor movement; the problem encountered in China, as it moves from complete state control of production and distribution to a "free market economy with socialist characteristics"; and how the government of Malaysia, the richest per capita nation of the four, can persistently oppose the organization of workers in the electronics industry, the country's largest. Unlike other volumes, whose treatment of the area is far less extensive, Worker Rights and Labor Standards in Asia's Four New Tigers illuminates the labor climate in these countries with depth and clarity, helping readers make educated comparisons. It will be a valued text of researchers, professionals, and students in the subject areas of international labor relations and Asian studies, as well as a helpful reference for scholars in the disciplines of sociology, economics, and political science.