SWA #19

Caraway, Teri. "Labor Rights in East Asia: Progress or Regress?." Journal of East Asian Studies. 9.2 (2009): 153-186. Print.

                Ms. Caraway examines how economic and social changes have effected labor rights in Southeast Asia. This article compares different data from regions in Southeast Asia. The author sustains that labor rights have improved do to the increase in labor union activity. However, the situation is still pretty bad. The author’s major problem with these standards is that they do not provide flexibility in a rapidly changing market. She states that Singapore’s laws are extremely weak compared with international standards.

Caraway, Teri. "Labor Standards and Labor Market Flexibility in East Asia.." Studies in Comparative International Development. 45.2 (2010): 225-249. Print.

Caraway shows that labor standards in Southeast Asia have improved greatly, but have lost their flexibility. International pressure has not done much to improve the conditions, however. Besides South Korea, standards in this region are still a long way from being up to par with the rest of the world. In summary, she shows that domestic pressure rather than international pressure seems to be the cause of most of the change