Peter Fairbrother Books
Peter Fairbrother is a British sociologist specializing in labor studies and industrial relations.
Known for: The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
Books by Peter Fairbrother
The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
Work has become one of the central battlegrounds of modern society. Stable jobs, national bargaining systems, and traditional union strongholds have been weakened by globalization, privatization, outsourcing, and managerial reform. In The New Politics of Work, Peter Fairbrother, Anthony E. McGovern, and their collaborators examine what happens when the old institutions of labor no longer fit the realities of contemporary employment. Rather than treating labor decline as inevitable, they ask how workers, unions, and communities can rebuild collective power under new conditions. This book matters because it shifts the conversation from nostalgia to strategy. It shows that the politics of work is no longer confined to the factory gate or bargaining table; it now stretches across supply chains, local communities, public policy, gender relations, and transnational networks. The authors bring strong authority to the topic through their expertise in sociology, industrial relations, labor policy, and organizational change. Their analysis combines historical depth with practical insight, making the book valuable not only for scholars but also for union activists, policy thinkers, and anyone trying to understand why work has become so politically contested. It is a sharp guide to how modern labor movements are being remade.
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Postwar Labor Settlements Shaped Expectations
A labor movement is easiest to understand when you see what has been lost. The book begins by situating modern labor politics within the postwar settlement that dominated much of the twentieth century. In many industrial societies, unions were embedded in durable institutions: sectoral bargaining, l...
From The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
Globalization Rewired Employment and Union Power
When capital becomes mobile, labor’s old maps stop working. One of the book’s central arguments is that globalization transformed employment relations by weakening the territorial and organizational boundaries on which traditional labor movements depended. Firms no longer operate as self-contained n...
From The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
Workplace Politics Now Extends Beyond Workplaces
The politics of work no longer starts and ends where people clock in. A major insight of the book is that contemporary labor struggles are increasingly shaped by forces outside the immediate employment relationship. Questions of housing, public services, migration, welfare policy, environmental chan...
From The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
Union Renewal Requires Organizational Reinvention
Decline is not destiny, but renewal never happens automatically. The book gives close attention to union renewal and argues that modern labor movements must rethink how they organize, recruit, and exercise leadership. Many unions were built for an era of large, stable workplaces and routine collecti...
From The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
Community Alliances Expand Collective Leverage
Workers gain power when their struggles become everyone’s concern. One of the book’s most compelling themes is the rise of community and social movement unionism. In contexts where workplace bargaining alone is too weak, unions increasingly collaborate with neighborhood groups, faith organizations, ...
From The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
Gender and Diversity Reshape Labor Agendas
A labor movement that speaks for workers in the abstract may miss the workers who most need it. The book highlights how gender, diversity, and social difference reshape the politics of work. Contemporary labor markets are structured by inequalities involving gender, race, migration status, age, and ...
From The New Politics of Work: The Making of a Modern Labour Movement
About Peter Fairbrother
Peter Fairbrother is a British sociologist specializing in labor studies and industrial relations.
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Peter Fairbrother is a British sociologist specializing in labor studies and industrial relations.
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