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    The impact of the ILO: fragmented policy networks and the battle for Labour standards in Czechia and Slovakia

    Hayes, Simon (2021) The impact of the ILO: fragmented policy networks and the battle for Labour standards in Czechia and Slovakia. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

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    Abstract

    World politics is characterised by challenges to effective multilateralism with repercussions across several areas such as trade, the environment and nuclear proliferation. This research investigates the impact of international organisations under contemporary conditions of globalisation and does so using the International Labour Organization (ILO) as an instance of this wider issue. Economic integration can result in negative social externalities, the responsibility of which cuts across state lines and requires cooperation at the international level. However, states are often reluctant to assign organisations concerned with human rights the necessary authority to fulfil their mandates. For the ILO, this has meant a reliance on powers of persuasion to achieve its goals; because compliance rates vary and because the organisation is without legal or economic means of enforcement, it has gained a reputation for being irrelevant and toothless. As a result, observers tend explain variation in labour standards across states as being caused solely by differences in their domestic politics. This thesis seeks to refine the domestic politics argument and to challenge the conventional wisdom on enforcement. In doing so, it illustrates not only whether and how the ILO makes an impact but draws attention to the fragmented policy environment in which it must operate. Here, some organisations work in support of the ILO e.g. global trade unions; but the norms diffused from others such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) often challenge it. Using the comparative case of Czechia and Slovakia, the proceeding chapters will argue that the ILO does make an impact and does so via its ability to provide monitoring, supervision and technical/legal assistance. However, the research further finds that the extent to which the ILO is successful in this regard depends to some degree on the ways in which competing configurations of domestic and international actors impede or facilitate its work.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Thesis
    Copyright Holders: The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted.
    Depositing User: Acquisitions And Metadata
    Date Deposited: 22 Oct 2021 12:58
    Last Modified: 01 Nov 2023 14:58
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/46410
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00046410

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