From Consent to Coercion

“This new edition of From Consent to Coercion, the most widely read labour studies text of the 1980s, contains much new material on austerity and authoritarianism in the context of ongoing capitalist crises of the early twentieth century. Nothing less than a crucial starting point for all those committed to understanding what workers confront in our current times, it should contribute to the task of rebuilding the labour movement to be the fighting force needed in Canada today. Read it and encourage others to do the same!”

” From Consent to Coercion is essential reading for understanding the current labour situation in Canada. A vivid account of the state’s attack on working people’s rights to bargain collectively and to strike, it takes us from the origins of the assault in the 1980s to its most recent incarnation and evaluates the lure of legalized politics. Urging unions to embrace a new democratic form of politics that makes capital accountable to people, this book is a tour de force.”

“The 4th fourth edition of From Consent to Coercion is a much-needed update to Panitch and Swartz’ seminal text. Incorporating events of the past two decades including the Great Recession and the COVID pandemic, the authors demonstrate how Canadian governments shifted the burden of economic crisis onto workers in a one-two punch of austerity budgets and highly-interventionist labour policy. A must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of labour policy and political economy.”

“This book is a classic tour de force delivering a detailed historical account of the plight and struggles of Canadian labour in the face of an increasingly coercive state apparatus, woven throughout by an inspired critical political-economy analysis of class relations and the shifting character of hegemony in Canada, and beyond. Standing upon the towering work of their forbearers, Evans and Fanelli successfully extend their analysis forwards through to the context of the decade of the 2020s. They provide a new generation with an increasingly accessible and far-reaching account of this crucial history and theoretical development, culminating in a bold call for a particular form of union renewal with its eye more firmly on the prize of moving beyond the limits of social democracy.”

Bryan Evans is a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Carlo Fanelli is an assistant professor and coordinator of the Work and Labour Studies Program in the Department of Social Science at York University.

Leo Panitch was a distinguished research professor of political science and a Canada Research Chair in comparative political economy at York University.

Donald Swartz is a professor emeritus in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University.

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