Global Governance and Transnational Labor Cooperation in North America.

This article addresses the question of why and how transnational social movements develop. Specifically I analyze why and how the character of labor transnationalism changed drastically between 1988 and 2000 in North America. I ask, what are the catalysts of labor transnationalism, and how can emerging global governance institutions influence their growth? Using in-depth interviews with over one hundred forty U.S., Canadian, and Mexican labor leaders, organizers and government officials, I suggest that the nature of labor transnationalism changed as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA had a catalyzing effect in two ways. First it stimulated political mobilization, and second, it created new institutions through which labor activists could mobilize. This analysis will thus explain how and why the face of labor transnationalism changed so drastically in NAFTA?s wake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]