UN international labour organisation
Prof Fang Lee Cooke, 2025
Fang Lee Cooke has completed a trilogy (three books) with Dr Nikolai Rogovsky, for the International Labour Organization (ILO). This collection (published by the ILO in 2021, 2023 and 2025) focuses on global challenges, social justice and productivity. It aims at providing a better understanding of how social justice—encompassing universal human rights and capabilities, equal access to opportunities for employment and productive activity, fair distribution and just transitions—is linked to productivity growth. Social justice has always been a major focus of the ILO. It was described as the Organization’s ultimate goal in the Preamble to the ILO Constitution of 1919 (ILO 2021a).
This trilogy is informed by the ILO’s social justice framework. The first volume examines the impacts of global challenges on human resource management (HRM) policies and practices in BRICS countries (Rogovsky and Cooke 2021). The second volume investigates the extent to which productivity improvements in four major Asian economies, namely China, India, Japan and the Republic of Korea, has been underpinned by human-centred productivity improvements (Cooke and Rogovsky 2023). The third volume (Cooke and Rogovsky, 2025) aims to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between social justice and workplace productivity. It pays particular attention to women and older workers, investigating how national-level policy frameworks and enterprise-level HRM practices can help to ensure that workers from these two vulnerable groups are treated equitably and are able to continue contributing to productivity growth.
It is important to note that the authors do not confine themselves simply to workplace productivity (or labour productivity), but also examine other indicators of economic performance in the workplace and at the macroeconomic level. Moreover, they consider social performance measures that reflect improvements in areas such as labour legislation, social protection, health and well-being, access to lifelong learning, quality of employment, and the labour market inclusion of women and older workers.
Social justice and workplace productivity are influenced by a range of macro-level factors and global trends and by HRM policies and practices at the enterprise level. Women and older workers are often disadvantaged in the labour market and in workplaces. Several factors impactwomen’s productivity, some of which are linked to various dimensions of social justice, including gender discrimination in the labour market and in the workplace. Similarly, older workers are often faced with stereotypes, which can lead to unfair treatment and discourage them from continuing to work or from working productively. By investigating issues related to social justice and the productivity of women and older workers, this latest volume sheds light on what needs to be done to strengthen social protection for these groups of workers, enabling them to enjoy a better future.