Chapter 3 unpicks the regulatory context of worker voice and influence. It analyses how the general nature and role of the state has changed and continues to evolve; the influence of policy positions and legal intervention on employment relations; and institutional responses to gender inequality and labour migration. It contends that the world of work and employment has been decollectivised by bogus self-employment and individualised employment rights.

The chapter reviews shifts to global capitalism, the rise of non-standard employment relationships and the prevalence of work precarity for many people, including flexibility, work in the gig economy and the rise of new technologies shaping the future of work

Chapter 4 debates the decline in worker voice. It reviews different forms of voice: ‘institutional’ (e.g. works councils); ‘union participation’; ‘collective bargaining’; ‘non-union voice’; and ‘external actors’ (e.g. civil society groups and associations). It argues that while employee voices are increasingly fragmented and fractured, there are shades of light and hope in terms of new forms of creative labour mobilising and social engagement.

During the 1960s and 1970s the economic nationalism that had accompanied the growth of foreign direct investment in Latin America evolved into academic theories of dependency. This stimulated increased questioning of the role that multinationals played in the region, the introduction of policies to regulate their activities, and, at times, nationalization. This chapter examines the social consequences of foreign direct investment in resource extraction and in manufacturing. Foreign companies appeared to have gained much more from exploiting Latin American resources than local societies, which had experienced significant social and environmental harm. The balance sheet for foreign direct investment in manufacturing was more complex. It stimulated positive changes in consumption patterns and employment. However, multinationals also displaced local entrepreneurs, and they largely ignored their impact on public health and the environment. These issues remain salient in the first decades of the twenty-first century, especially with the resurgence of multinational investment in extractive activities and grassroots opposition to it.

This chapter examines the historical evolution of the relationship between multinationals enterprises and global value chains, highlighting their role in shaping global capitalism. Since the late nineteenth century, multinationals have used global value chains to integrate resources, labor, and markets, reinforcing economic specialization while promoting technological transfer. However, these processes have also entrenched inequalities, reinforced economic dependencies and exacerbated social disparities. The chapter traces the development of global value chains from the first global economy to post–World War II industrial expansion, exploring how multinational strategies both influenced and were shaped by technological advances and geopolitical changes. It also addresses the impact of recent trends such as a slowdown in global economic integration and geopolitical tensions, which have triggered a shift toward regionalization and the restructuring of global value chains.