Seaborne trade is the backbone of the world economy. About 0 percent of world trade is transported by ships. Since World War II, shipbuilding has gone through major changes.
While the global construction volume increased enormously, British initial dominance was first undermined by Japanese competition from the 1950s, but then Japan was in turn overtsaken by South Korea in the 1990s, only to be outcompeted by the Republic of China since the 2008 crisis.
Labour processes and employment relations have changed dramatically during these shifts.
In twenty-four case studies, Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Workers reconstructs the development of the world's shipbuilding and ship repair industries, and the workers'responses to these historical ransformations.