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Trade unions, politics and parties: is a new configuration possible?

Author

Listed:
  • Richard Hyman

    (EROB, London School of Economics, r.hyman@lse.ac.uk)

  • Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick

    (Department of Management, Birkbeck, University of London, r.gumbrell-mccormick@bbk.ac.uk)

Abstract

Trade unions are not merely economic (or ‘industrial relations’) actors: they are necessarily protagonists in the political arena. Regulating the labour market is a question of power resources. Yet if unions are inescapably both economic and political actors, the relationship between the two roles is complex and contradictory, and the priority assigned to each varies across countries and over time. Four factors seem of particular importance in explaining these distinctive patterns: ideology, opportunity structures, organizational capacity and contextual challenges. We explore these issues with reference to ten west European countries, and end by pointing to some of the ideational and practical reasons why unions must explicitly redefine their political identities.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Hyman & Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick, 2010. "Trade unions, politics and parties: is a new configuration possible?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 16(3), pages 315-331, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:16:y:2010:i:3:p:315-331
    DOI: 10.1177/1024258910373863
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Avdagic, Sabina & Rhodes, Martin & Visser, Jelle, 2005. "The Emergence and Evolution of Social Pacts: A Provisional Framework for Comparative Analysis," European Governance Papers (EUROGOV) 1, CONNEX and EUROGOV networks.
    2. Ton Notermans, 1993. "The Abdication from National Policy Autonomy: Why the Macroeconomic Policy Regime has become so Unfavorable to Labor," Politics & Society, , vol. 21(2), pages 133-167, June.
    3. Jonathon W. Moses, 1994. "Abdication from National Policy Autonomy: What's Left to Leave?," Politics & Society, , vol. 22(2), pages 125-148, June.
    4. Chris Howell, 2009. "The Transformation of French Industrial Relations: Labor Representation and the State in a Post-Dirigiste Era," Politics & Society, , vol. 37(2), pages 229-256, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Keyes & Zachary A Russell & Jack Fiorito, 2023. "The union experience: Workplace instrumentality, prosocial unionism, and union satisfaction," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(4), pages 1239-1265, November.
    2. Lorenzo Frangi & Sebastian Koos & Sinisa Hadziabdic, 2017. "In Unions We Trust! Analysing Confidence in Unions across Europe," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 831-858, December.
    3. Rebecca Gumbrell-McCormick, 2013. "The International Trade Union Confederation: From Two (or More?) Identities to One," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(2), pages 240-263, June.
    4. Gregor Murray, 2017. "Union renewal: what can we learn from three decades of research?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(1), pages 9-29, February.
    5. Hadziabdic, Sinisa, 2023. "Turning no tides: Union effects on partisan preferences and the working-class metamorphosis," MPIfG Discussion Paper 23/2, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    6. Maria da Paz Campos Lima & Antonio Martín Artiles, 2011. "Crisis and trade union challenges in Portugal and Spain: between general strikes and social pacts," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 17(3), pages 387-402, August.

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