ABSTRACT
This chapter examines contemporary labor trends in the United States and elsewhere as they are shaped by economic globalization. It also examines the historical events that have led to contemporary patterns in economic globalization and global market trends. The chapter explores the specific characteristics of the changes in labor in the industrialized and industrializing world, the rise of flexible labor worldwide, and the feminization of labor. Economic globalization has also impacted the trends of global migration. Critics of economic globalization argue that as transnational corporations reach all over the globe looking for new territories to set up shop, there is strong evidence that they play a great role in impacting the health of workers and communities around the globe—mostly in a negative way. Globalization is a term used to refer to everything from international trade, migration, and tourism, to the distribution of American popular culture to the rest of the world.
