ABSTRACT
Globalization is conceived as the process that results in the convergence of relative prices, increased trade and factor movements, governance of production systems or value-chains, and increased hegemony of metropolitan capital. The perceived need of the enterprises seeking to enhance their competitiveness in times of rapidly changing global markets and technology is flexibilization of the existing industrial structure and labour processes. However, the term ‘flexibilization’ has wide ramifications. While some emphasize the changes in the organization of production in response to technological innovations, others focus on how increased competition in the global economy has prompted enterprises to search for ways to reduce labour costs and to increase labour productivity. There is another perspective about the political economy of flexibilization that explains the shifts in the balance of power between national governments, foreign and domestic capital, and labour unions (Eyck 2003).
