False humanitarianism?: US advocacy of transnational labour protections

Abstract

Abstract The US is now the most important political force on the world scene calling for the establishment of transnational labour protections as a means of 'humanizing' the ongoing globalization of the capitalist economy. This paper raises critical questions about the US advocacy of transnational labour standards and norms by critically examining the existing system of US transnational labour protections. By means of a survey of different forms of transnational labour protections presently endorsed by the US, the paper argues that their internal legal weaknesses – in particular, their failure to institutionalize the minimal rudiments of modern formal legality – render them at best ineffective and at worst an instrument for attempts to assure the political and economic hegemony of the US, especially in those parts of the world in which the US has traditionally played a dominant role. Notwithstanding the understandable appeal of transnational labour standards, the US model of transnational labour protections represents a false humanitarianism which thus far has born few fruits for labour either in the US or abroad. Keywords: Globalization Rule Of Law Labour Law Labour Standards Imperialism