Labor in Hard Times : Workers' Legal Mobilization at the European Court of Human Rights

This book offers a rare, accessible look at how workers in Turkey and the UK used human rights law to challenge neoliberal reforms. It is an ideal resource for readers interested in labor rights, international law, and social movements as well as political science, law, and global studies collections.

Labor in Hard Times examines how organized labor in Turkey and the United Kingdom turned to international human rights law in response to domestic repression and neoliberal restructuring. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and a unique database of labor rights cases, the book traces how workers used litigation at the European Court of Human Rights not just to win legal victories, but to build political pressure, assert legitimacy, and reclaim space for collective action. Focusing on public sector unionists in Turkey and blacklisted construction workers in the UK, it offers a rare view of how grassroots activists and lawyers mobilized international law as a tactical resource: Workers engaged rights discourse strategically to pursue concrete goals, while remaining rooted in class-based solidarity. With vivid case studies, this book speaks to readers interested in international courts, human rights, and the evolving strategies of labor movements in an era of democratic backsliding and global inequality.