Contingent Work, Disrupted Lives

Contingent Work, Disrupted Lives
Author: Belinda Leach
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2002-11-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442690887

Contingent Work, Disrupted Lives examines the repercussions of economic globalization on several manufacturing-dependent rural communities in Canada. Foregrounding a distinct interest in the 'grassroots' effects of such contemporary corporate strategies as plant closures and downsizing, authors Anthony Winson and Belinda Leach consider the impact of this restructuring on the residents of various communities. The authors argue that the new rural economy involves a fundamental shift in the stability and security of people's lives and, ultimately, it causes wrenching change and an arduous struggle as rural dwellers struggle to rebuild their lives in the new economic terrain. Beginning with broader theoretical and empirical literature on global changes in the economy and the effects of these changes on labour, the text then focuses exploration on manufacturing in Ontario with an analysis of five community case studies. Winson and Leach give considerable attention to the testimony of numerous residents; they report on in-depth interviews with key respondents and blue-collar workers in five separate communities, ranging from diverse manufacturing towns to single-industry settlements. The result is an intimate contextual knowledge of the workers' lives and their attempts to adapt to the tumultuous economic terrain of 1990s rural Canada. Winner of the John Porter Prize for 2003, awarded by the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association.

Smiling Down the Line

Smiling Down the Line
Author: Bob Russell
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1442609818

Smiling Down the Line theorizes call centre work as info-service employment and looks at the effects of ever-changing technologies on service work, its associated skills, and the ways in which it is managed.

Closing the Enforcement Gap

Closing the Enforcement Gap
Author: Leah Faith Vosko
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 470
Release: 2020-02-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1487534051

The nature of employment is changing: low wage jobs are increasingly common, fewer workers belong to unions, and workplaces are being transformed through the growth of contracting-out, franchising, and extended supply chains. Closing the Enforcement Gap offers a comprehensive analysis of the enforcement of employment standards in Ontario. Adopting mixed methods, this work includes qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with workers, community advocates, and enforcement officials; extensive archival research excavating decades of ministerial records; and analysis of a previously untapped source of administrative data collected by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour. The authors reveal and trace the roots of a deepening "enforcement gap" that pervades nearly all aspects of the regime, demonstrating that the province’s Employment Standards Act (ESA) fails too many workers who rely on the floor of minimum conditions it was devised to provide. Arguably, there is nothing inevitable about the enforcement gap in Ontario or for that matter elsewhere. Through contributions from leading employment standards enforcement scholars in the US, the UK, and Australia, as well as Quebec, Closing the Enforcement Gap surveys innovative enforcement models that are emerging in a variety of jurisdictions and sets out a bold vision for strengthening employment standards enforcement. Closing the Enforcement Gap Research Group Leah F. Vosko Guliz Akkaymak Rebecca Casey Shelley Condratto John Grundy Alan Hall Alice Hoe Kiran Mirchandani Andrea M. Noack Urvashi Soni-Sinha Mercedes Steedman Mark P. Thomas Eric M. Tucker International/Quebec Contributors Nick Clark Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau Tess Hardy John Howe Guylaine Vallée David Weil

Class, Contention, and a World in Motion

Class, Contention, and a World in Motion
Author: Winnie Lem
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2010-07-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1845458400

Prevailing scholarship on migration tends to present migrants as the objects of history, subjected to abstract global forces or to concrete forms of regulation imposed by state and supra state organizations. In this volume, by contrast, the focus is on migrants as the subjects of history who not only react but also act to engage with and transform their worlds. Using ethnographic examples from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East, contributors question how and why particular forms of political struggle and collective action may, or indeed may not, be carried forward in the context of geographic and social border crossings. In doing so, they bring the dynamic relationship between class, gender, and culture to the forefront in each distinctive migration setting.

Public Policy for Women

Public Policy for Women
Author: Marjorie Griffin Cohen
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 441
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0802095003

Containing essays from leading feminist academics, and social activists, Public Policy for Women addresses important public policy issues that fail to address women's needs. The volume's contributors pay particular attention to the relationship between the welfare state and vulnerable populations of women, while making substantial contributions to current public policy debates in Canada. Focusing on discussions of controversial issues such as single working mothers, prostitution, mandatory retirement, guaranteed income, and work for welfare, these essays also consider the political and economic constraints that have been brought about by neo-liberal policy changes. Full of relevant policy critiques and original recommendations for improvement, Public Policy for Women readdresses often neglected subjects and concerns and makes informative appeals for public policy to address women's needs.

The Capacity to Innovate

The Capacity to Innovate
Author: Sarah Giest
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2021-04-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442622156

In The Capacity to Innovate, Sarah Giest provides insight into the collaborative and absorptive capacities needed to provide public support to local innovation through cluster organizations. The book offers a detailed view of the vertical, multi-level, and horizontal dynamics in clusters and cluster policy and addresses how they are managed and supported. Using the biotechnology field as an example, Giest highlights challenges in the collaborative efforts of public bodies, private companies, and research institutes to establish a successful ecosystem of innovation in this sector. The book argues that cluster policy in collaboration with cluster organizations should focus on absorptive and collaborative capacity elements missing in the cluster context in order to improve performance. Currently, governments operate at different levels – from the local to the supranational – in order to support clusters, and cluster policies are often pursued alongside other programs, leading to uncoordinated efforts and ineffective cluster strategies. The Capacity to Innovate advocates for a coordinated effort by government and cluster organizations to support capacity elements lacking within the specific cluster context.

Internationalization and Canadian Agriculture

Internationalization and Canadian Agriculture
Author: Grace Skogstad
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2008-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0802098800

Examines the patterns of continuity and change in Canadian agricultural policy making in important areas like farm income support programs, prairie grain marketing, supply management, animal and food product safety, and the regulation of genetically modified crops and foods.

Environmental Policy Change in Emerging Market Democracies

Environmental Policy Change in Emerging Market Democracies
Author: Jale Tosun
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2013-12-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442699205

This book examines environmental policy change in twenty-eight Central and Eastern European and Latin American countries against a background of significant political and economic transformation over the past two decades. Through cross-regional comparison and a multi-methods approach, Jale Tosun investigates changes in the regulation of air, soil, and water pollution, genetically modified corn, and the sustainable management of forests. Tosun also looks at the relationship between system transformation and the creation of environmental procuracies in both parts of the world. Environmental Policy Change in Emerging Market Democracies demonstrates that, although political and economic transformations have positively affected environmental policy in both regions, the extent of policy change varies considerably across Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. At the same time, as Tosun argues, economic integration has acted as a major driver of a stronger governmental enforcement commitment as expressed by the creation of environmental procuracies.

Multiple Barriers

Multiple Barriers
Author: Alison Smith
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2022-06-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1487542445

Despite decades of efforts to combat homelessness, many people continue to experience it in Canada’s major cities. There are a number of barriers that prevent effective responses to homelessness, including a lack of agreement on the fundamental question: what is homelessness? In Multiple Barriers, Alison Smith explores the forces that shape intergovernmental and multilevel governance dynamics to help better understand why, despite the best efforts of community and advocacy groups, homelessness remains as persistent as ever. Drawing on nearly 100 interviews with key actors in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal, as well as extensive participant observation, Smith argues that institutional differences across cities interact with ideas regarding homelessness to contribute to very different models of governance. Multiple Barriers shows that the genuine involvement of locally based service providers, with the development of policy, are necessary for an effective, equitable, and enduring solution to the homelessness crisis in Canada.