Publisher's Synopsis
Despite labour history's flourishing since the 1960s an essential aspect of workers' lives has been virtually overlooked: their constant struggle for protection from threats to their way of life, such as illness, unemployment, disability and old age. Mutual benefit societies have been a major means of social self-defence in this area. The present collection of essays covers new ground by exploring the development of mutual benefit societies in 26 countries across five continents. A number of comparative and international analyses has also been included.
