Living wage activism has spanned time and space, reaching across decades and national boundaries. Conditions generating living wage movements early in the twentieth century have resurfaced in the twenty-first century, only on a global scale: 'sweated' labour, macroeconomic instability, and job insecurity.

Upon reviewing the empirical evidence, the book's contributors make strong cases both for and against living wage activism. The effective blend of historical, contemporary, and global perspectives provides opportunities for teachers, scholars, and activists to evaluate how we can address low pay at the organizational and macroeconomic levels.

Reviews

'In this volume, Professor Figart has drawn together eighteen scholars for the first comprehensive global analysis of the various living wages movements. These essays bring to life the story of the distributive conditions of labor, through global activism and empirical research. It provides a fascinating detailed view of the ethical, political, economic and social foundations of the standard of living of the working classes in many nations. I highly recommend it for courses on labor economics, public policy and comparative political economy.' - Professor Phillp O'Hara, Global Political Economy Research Unit, Curtin University, Australia

Contents

Part I - What is a Living

Part II - Living Wage and Low Pay Campaigns: Contemporary Global Activism

Part III - Evidence and Lessons from U.S. Empirical Studies