Global Decisions, Local Collisions

The politics of the past must be rethought. They were designed for a world where the U.S. manufactured at home, and where portions of U.S.-based labor had traded social stability for high wages. In this thought-provoking work, David Ranney shows how our world has changed and offers a plan for remaking progressive politics to meet the crises brought about by what George H.W. Bush first termed "the new world order". Drawing from his experiences in Chicago politics, first as a factory worker and later as an activist and academic, Ranney shows how the increasing mobility of capital, the easy availability of credit, and a changing government policies have reshaped the urban world where U.S. workers live their everyday lives. This is not the story of the interconnectedness of modern business, but rather the need for self-respecting people who bring home a weekly paycheck to see the common, global problems they face, and to work together to bring about meaningful change. Showing how globalization has led to specific local consequences for cities and the workers that inhabit them, David Ranney presents a means for taking stock of the effects of globalization; a look at these changes in labor markets; economic development politics; housing policy; employment policies; and, an organizing strategy for this new economic and social era. Author note: David Ranney is a Professor in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. He has worked extensively with community and labor organizations in the Chicago area that are concerned with job creation, retention, and assistance to dislocated workers. He is the author of three books and numerous articles and monographs on issues of employment, labor and community organization, and city planning.