Tzehainesh Tekl
This important new study shifts the focus of scholarly and policy debates - around the role of labor law in an era of globalization - away from the countries and labor law systems of the North to those of the global South. Placing its analysis within the context of the current scholarly debates on the challenges and the future of labor law, the book critically reviews the relevant literature and reflects upon the way workers’ protection tends to be conceptualized, as well as on the adequacy of the legal categories and tools used to further it. Special attention is given to the effectiveness of labor legislation to promoting gender equality. The book argues that there is a mismatch between the realities of the developing world and the socio-economic, legal, political, and cultural underpinnings of labor law, which originates from its development in post-colonial African and South Asian countries and, to a lesser extent, in Latin American countries. This divergence persists, while new manifestations have appeared due to globalization. The study contends that the structural features of developing countries, combined with the challenges of globalization, have resulted in a significant number of workers falling outside the scope of protection of labor law, either de jure or de facto. Against this background, it explores the main regulatory and policy responses developed at different governance levels to enhance the scope and application of labor regulation in Latin America, South Asia, and Southern Africa.
