About King Harvest

King Harvest aims to provide a source of news, analysis and debate on developments in the global economy with particular emphasis on the impact of the economy on global labor.

With the end of the Cold War some fifteeen years ago the terrain upon which the labor movement defends its interests has changed radically. New terrain requires new understanding.

A few readers may recognize the title, King Harvest, right away; but for most readers it may seem obscure. It comes from the title of a great song “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)” by The Band, one of my favorite musical groups. “I’m a union man, now, all the way” they sing. And then, “I’m glad to pay those union dues, Just don’t judge me by my shoes.”

The song writer, Robbie Robertson, says the song is about the labor movement, what he called “the quiet revolution when people went from being separated to something making them feel that they were all part of something in their livelihood.”

But there is much more going on in this song and I think it relates well to the themes of this site.

You can watch The Band play the song here: King Harvest.

I will try to make available to visitors to this site news, research and debates that I encounter in the course of my own work that I think might be helpful to those who are trying to make sense of these same developments. I will welcome constructive contributions from others as well.

Comments on my blog are welcome and I will only block those that are really too snarky for a reasonable discussion. However, I do require that people post comments in their own name.