Varieties of regional economic integration and labor internationalism: The case of Japanese trade unions in comparison

Abstract

This article examines whether Japanese trade unions have developed greater levels of international cooperation as a result of increased regional integration, i.e. economic partnerships with Asian counterparts in the 2000s. Labor rights at the regional level or resources that allow workers to organize are absent in the Japanese case; therefore, its analysis enriches understanding of the impact of those elements on labor internationalism in varieties of international regional integration. Economic partnership agreements were found not to be an incentive for building relations among Japanese and fellow international trade unions. Instead, cooperation was found to be contingent on already established ties. The article also demonstrates a growing interest among Japanese and other trade unions in responding to regional projects of the East Asian Community and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).