Legal geographies of labour and postdemocracy

Reinforcing non‐standard work in South Korea

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8964210
AutoresJamie Doucette (0000-0002-4006-9841, Geography School of Environment, Education, and Development University of Manchester Manchester, UK, autor de correspondencia), Susan Kang (0000-0003-3793-6681, Department of Political Science John Jay College of Criminal Justice City University of New York New York NY USA)
Año2017
Volumen43
Número2
Páginas200-214
Fecha de publicación2017-10-16
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-2754 • E-ISSN: 1475-5661
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/tran.12216
OpenAlexW2752154138
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas13
Referencias citadas41

This paper engages the literature on the legal geographies of labour and postdemocracy in order to examine the role of law in limiting the labour rights of non‐standard workers. To do so, it analyses the effects of civil suits for obstruction of business against workers and trade union activists in South Korea. First embraced by liberal administrations as an alternative to authoritarian forms of labour control, civil suits for obstruction of business have become a common feature of labour struggles since 2002 and have led to millions of dollars in damage claims and provisional seizure of assets being applied against workers for engaging in collective action. We argue that by treating many ordinary trade union practices as “threats of force” that obstruct business and are thus liable for compensation, the law has been an essential component in the creation of a postdemocratic mode of labour control: one in which many fundamental labour rights are officially recognised, unlike under authoritarian regimes, but undermined in practice by narrowly limiting workers’ ability to pursue lawful collective action

Action (physics · Authoritarianism · Civil society · Collective action · Collective bargaining · Compensation (psychology · Damages · Democracy · Economics · Industrial action · Labour economics · Labour law · Law and economics · Limiting · Order (exchange · Political science · Sociology · Trade union · Work (physics · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Finance · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Labor Movements and Unions · Law