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Power resource theory and the 21st century US labor movement

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  • Ruth Milkman

Abstract

This article evaluates the Power Resources Approach (PRA) in relation to recent developments in the US labor movement. These include high-profile unionization drives at iconic companies like Starbucks and Amazon; the less-publicized union organizing and strikes among college-educated professionals; and the militant campaigns of «legacy» unions like the United Auto Workers and the Teamsters in 2022 and 2023. The PRA is useful in illuminating the conditions under which such efforts succeed or falter, but it also has some serious limitations. Variation in the extent and nature of employer power, social crises (e.g. the Covid-19 pandemic), and the role of leadership – whether of rank-and-file activists or union officials – in shaping workers’ struggles are all exogenous to PRA. The latter is an especially conspicuous omission in regard to the US case, where a primary driver of recent labor activism is the leadership of a new political generation of college-educated «Millennials» and «Gen-Zers».

Suggested Citation

  • Ruth Milkman, 2024. "Power resource theory and the 21st century US labor movement," Stato e mercato, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 39-66.
    • Handle: RePEc:mul:jl9ury:doi:10.1425/113952:y:2024:i:1:p:39-66
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    Keywords

    Labor-Management; J51 - Trade Unions; P16 - Capitalist Political Economy/Welfare States.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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