The Debate on Eurocentrism in the International Labor Movement: A View from the Americas

This paper deals with the evolution of European influence on international labor organizations since the end of the Cold War. The perceptions of Latin American union officials are analyzed in order to understand how they react to a supposed European domination. The author argues that if European influence remains strong, its nature has changed. It has been transformed by the experience of European unionism, which allowed European labor unions to practice internationalism and provided them with strategies they could export. Observations made in Latin America also lead to the conclusion that when labor unions closely coordinate their activities at the regional level, their influence on the international labor movement is strengthened.