The Limits of Regionalism

Robert Finbow is Associate Professor of Political Science, Canadian Studies and International Development Studies at Dalhousie University, Canada. He holds degrees from Dalhousie and York Universities in Canada, and received his doctorate from the London School of Economics. He teaches courses on comparative politics and political economy. He has published articles on labour and environmental aspects of NAFTA, comparative health care and social policy, comparative North American political cultures and Canadian regionalism and federalism. His current research focuses on comparative federalism and regional development policies in North America, multi-level governance, and labour and social policies in NAFTA and Europe.

Contents: Preface; Part I Balancing Trade and Labour Rights in North America: Introduction: labour, trade and regionalism; Labour rights and trade: from global to regional approaches; NAFTA, labour and the new regionalism; Negotiating the NAALC: political compromise. Part II Public Submissions: Promoting Labour Regionalism?; Testing NAALC's regional institutions: early US cases; Stretching e institutions: later US cases; Institutional limits? Recent US cases; Protecting migrant workers: Mexican cases; Canada's slow accession to the NAALC. Part III NAALC and the Prospects for Regionalism in North America: Cooperative activities: cultivating communality?; Evaluating NAALC: the potential for transnational regionalism; Conclusion: the limits of regionalism in labour affairs. Bibliography; Index.