Organizing Insurgency: Workers’ Movements in the Global South

A Pluto Wildcat with author Immanuel Ness

Workers in the Global South are doomed through economic imperialism to carry the burden of the entire world. While these workers appear isolated from the Global North, they are in fact deeply integrated into global commodity chains and essential to the maintenance of global capitalism.

Looking at contemporary case studies in India, the Philippines and South Africa, this book affirms the significance of political and economic representation to the struggles of workers against deepening levels of poverty and inequality that oppress the majority of people on the planet. Immanuel Ness shows that workers are eager to mobilize to improve their conditions, and can achieve lasting gains if they have sustenance and support from political organizations. From the Dickensian industrial zones of Delhi to the agrarian oligarchy on the island of Mindanao, a common element remains – when workers organize they move closer to the realization of socialism, solidarity and equality.

Immanuel Ness is Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg. He is the author and editor of many books, including Southern Insurgency: The Coming of the Global Working Class (Pluto, 2015) and Urban Revolt: State Power and the Rise of People’s Movements in the Global South (Haymarket, 2017).