Defining Global Justice

“This is a thoroughly researched and extremely well written book on the complex development of global labor standards and the ILO. It should be read urgently by anyone concerned with problems of global justice, and particularly by those who take the view that ‘labor is not merely a commodity.’” —Randolph B. Persaud, Co-Director of the Sub-Field of Comparative and International Race Relations at American University, and Director of American University's Interdisciplinary Council on the Americas “Professor Lorenz has written an important book that provides an invaluable portrait of the International Labor Organization. Especially significant among his several achievements is his analysis of the contributions of one of this country’s unjustly neglected citizens, John G. Winant.” —James O. Freedman, President Emeritus, Dartmouth College ""...one cannot help but be impressed by the drive and vigour of Lorenz's prose.""—Journal of Contemporary History “This useful review of American attitudes toward international labor standards starts with World War I and the creation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in 1919. It usefully discusses the movement toward national labor standards within the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, the U.S. failure to ratify many of the ILO conventions, and the divisions within American labor on the ILO.” —Foreign Affairs “Based on an impressive command of a wide variety of sources, this well-organized and clearly written account explains how the social gospel movement, Progressive Era reformers, academics and attorneys, feminists and consumers, and labor unions attempted to shape an international organization that could establish standards to protect workers around the world.” —Register of the Kentucky Historical Society “Defining Global Justice chronicles in an unusual and intriguing way the rise and eventual sequential transformations of the International Labor Organization....[A] novel and very interesting history of real-life battles regarding international labor standards and an important reminder that within the traditions of our profession there once thrived a strong concern about standards of human dignity.” —EH.NET “This volume is timely. Lorenz provides an insightful history of the US’s role in the development of global labor standards through the ILO. This well-written study persuasively demonstrates that ‘well-organized groups can force the policy process to consider values, other than economic efficiency, in setting economic policies.’” —Choice “As the first complete history of the ILO, this book by Edward C. Lorenz is important for its evidence, clear narrative and ... theoretical contribution.” —American Historical Review “...an intriguing story that offers insights into the evolution of international organizations and their ability to define norms of behavior. This is a valuable book in that it carefully and fully lays out the philosophical and legal arguments for labor standards and documents when they have been applied over a long period of history.”—The Journal of Economic History