The Laboring of Communication : Will Knowledge Workers of the World Unite?

This book addresses the changing nature of work, workers, and their organizations in the media, information, and knowledge industries. It begins with a concise analysis of the meaning of knowledge work and of an information society.

The Laboring of Communication examines the transformation of work and of worker organizations in today''s Information Society. The book focuses on how traditional trade unions and new worker associations growing out of social movements are coming together to address the crisis of organized labor. It concentrates on the creative responses of the technical and cultural workers in the mass media, telecommunications, and information technology industries. Concentrating on political economy, labor process, and feminist theory, it proceeds to offer several ways of thinking about communication workers and the nature of the society in which they work. Drawing on interviews and the documentary record, the book offers case studies of successful and unsuccessful efforts among both traditional and alternative worker organizations in the United States and Canada. It concludes by addressing the thorny issue of outsourcing, describing how global labor federations and nascent worker organizations in the developing world are coming together to develop creative solutions.