Democratization in the developing and postcommunist world has yielded limited gains for labor. Explanations for this phenomenon have focused on the effect of economic crisis and globalization on the capacities of unions to become influential political actors and to secure policies that benefit their members. In contrast, the contributors to Working through the Past highlight the critical role that authoritarian legacies play in shaping labor politics in new democracies, providing the first cross-regional analysis of the impact of authoritarianism on labor, focusing on East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Legacies from the predemocratic era shape labor's present in ways that both limit and enhance organized labor's power in new democracies. Assessing the comparative impact on a variety of outcomes relevant to labor in widely divergent settings, this volume argues that political legacies provide new insights into why labor movements in some countries have confronted the challenges of neoliberal globalization better than others.

Introduction: Labor and Authoritarian Legaciesby Teri L. Caraway, Stephen Crowley, and Maria Lorena Cook1. Strength amid Weakness: Legacies of Labor in Post-Suharto Indonesiaby Teri L. Caraway2. Labor's Political Representation: Divergent Paths in Korea and Taiwanby Yoonkyung Lee3. Authoritarian Legacies and Labor Weakness in the Philippinesby Jane Hutchison4. The Peculiarities of Communism and the Emergence of Weak Unions in Polandby David Ost5. Exceptionalism and Its Limits: The Legacy of Self-Management in the Former Yugoslaviaby Marko Grdesic6. Russia's Labor Legacy: Making Use of the Pastby Stephen Crowley7. State-Corporatist Legacies and Divergent Paths: Argentina and Mexicoby Graciela Bensusán and Maria Lorena Cook8. "Your Defensive Fortress": Workers and Vargas's Legacies in Brazilby Adalberto Cardoso9. Living in the Past or Living with the Past?: Reflections on Chilean Labor Unions Twenty Years into Democracyby Volker Frank10. Transformation without Transition: China's Maoist Legacies in Comparative Perspectiveby Mary E. GallagherConclusion: The Comparative Analysis of Regime Change and Labor Legaciesby Ruth Berins Collier and Andrés SchipaniNotesWorks CitedList of ContributorsIndex