This book considers the transformative impact of global trade and production networks on local economies, work and labour organization, and various forms and meanings of 'community'. It examines the socio-economic transformation in Asia and the restructuring of manufacturing industries, ports and the information technology sector.

MICHAEL GILLAN is Lecturer in employment relations at the University of Western Australia. His research interests include trade union responses to globalisation and industry restructuring, regulation of collective bargaining processes, and the political economy of liberalization and labour in India. He has published in a wide range of national and international journals includingEconomic Geography,South Asia and theJournal of Industrial Relations.

BOB POKRANT is Professor of Anthropology at Curtin University of Technology, Australia. His main research interests are climate change and development, aquaculture and fisheries in South Asia, and the global food system . He has published in international and national journals includingSouth Asia,Aquaculture International,Journal of Southeast Asian Studies.

Preface PART I: ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION Introduction: The Social Impact Of Trade and Production Networks On Labour And Local Communities in Asia; B.Pokrant& M.Gillan Globalization and Economic Change in Bangladesh; J.McGuire   International Trade and Business Investment in Myanmar: Scope, Strategic Development, and Social Implications; V.Thein& D.Pick PART II: GLOBAL TRADE AND COMMODITY PRODUCTION The Global Trade in Shrimp and its Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts in Bangladesh, India and Thailand; B.Pokrant From Marginalized Artisan to Impoverished Entrepreneur: Indian Artisans Confront Globalization; T.Scrase PART III: LABOUR ORGANISATION IN TRANSFORMING ECONOMIES AND SOCIETIES Industrial Restructuring, Trade Union Strategy, and Social Transformation in Australia and Asia; M.Gillan& R.Lambert   Global Trade and the Politics of Uneven Development: The Case of the Port Sector in South and South-East Asia; D.Hill Women Workers Organizing in the Free Trade Zones: Collective Action and Community; J.Biyanwila PART IV: EMERGING TRADE AND LABOUR IN ASIA: THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SECTOR Linking and Legitimizing Knowledge Based Economic Development: India-Singapore Collaboration in the Information Technology Sector; F.Yahya Visibility and Difference in a Transnational Organization in Australia: The Case of Transient Indian Information Technology Professionals (IT); S.Lakha Envisioning Futures in Work and Career in Large Transnational Call Centres in India; J.Jarman