IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/woemps/v29y2015i5p843-854.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The essence of trade unions: understanding identity, ideology and purpose

Author

Listed:
  • Andy Hodder

    (University of Birmingham, UK)

  • Paul Edwards

    (University of Birmingham, UK)

Abstract

Academics have long investigated trade union behaviour through the complex interaction of identity, ideology and purpose. At the same time, there have been increasing calls to gain a deeper understanding of the purpose of strategies but the two bodies of literature seldom overlap. The article proposes a framework to help understand the essence of trade unions and to situate strategies (such as organizing) in this broader context and bridge the gap between the literature on union purpose and identity and on strategies for renewal. It is argued that the essence of unions framework can assist with the analysis of both historical and contemporary trade unionism and allows both clarification and consideration of the range of concepts and terms already in use in the industrial relations literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Andy Hodder & Paul Edwards, 2015. "The essence of trade unions: understanding identity, ideology and purpose," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 29(5), pages 843-854, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:29:y:2015:i:5:p:843-854
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017014568142
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0950017014568142
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0950017014568142?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hyman, Richard, 2007. "How can trade unions act strategically?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 39803, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Miguel Martinez Lucio & Mark Stuart, 2009. "Organising and Union Modernisation: Narratives of Renewal in Britain," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Gregor Gall (ed.), Union Revitalisation in Advanced Economies, chapter 2, pages 17-37, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Bob Carter, 2006. "Trade union organizing and renewal," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 20(2), pages 415-426, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Geraint Harvey & Andy Hodder & Stephen Brammer, 2017. "Trade union participation in CSR deliberation: an evaluation," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 42-55, January.
    2. Torsten Geelan & Andy Hodder, 2017. "Enhancing transnational labour solidarity: the unfulfilled promise of the Internet and social media," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 345-364, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Heather Connolly & Stefania Marino & Miguel Martinez Lucio, 2017. "‘Justice for Janitors’ goes Dutch: the limits and possibilities of unions’ adoption of organizing in a context of regulated social partnership," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(2), pages 319-335, April.
    2. Simon de Turberville, 2007. "Union organizing: a response to Carter," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(3), pages 565-576, September.
    3. Marek Korczynski, 2007. "Service work, social theory, and collectivism: a reply to Brook," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 21(3), pages 577-588, September.
    4. Ian Fitzgerald & Jane Hardy, 2010. "‘Thinking Outside the Box’? Trade Union Organizing Strategies and Polish Migrant Workers in the United Kingdom," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(1), pages 131-150, March.
    5. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan, 2022. "Understanding global union repertoires of action," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 559-577, November.
    6. David Peetz & Barbara Pocock, 2009. "An Analysis of Workplace Representatives, Union Power and Democracy in Australia," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(4), pages 623-652, December.
    7. Jeremy Waddington & Allan Kerr, 2015. "Joining UNISON: does the reform of a union organising strategy change how members perceive their recruitment?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 187-207, May.
    8. Christina Karakioulafi & Kostas Kanellopoulos & Janina Petelczyc & Tom Montgomery & Simone Baglioni, 2021. "Patterns of Labour Solidarity Towards Precarious Workers and the Unemployed in Critical Times in Greece, Poland, and the UK," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 26(3), pages 739-758, September.
    9. Christian Lévesque & Gregor Murray, 2010. "Understanding union power: resources and capabilities for renewing union capacity," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 16(3), pages 333-350, August.
    10. Tom Hunt & Heather Connolly, 2023. "Covid‐19 and the work of trade unions: Adaptation, transition and renewal," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 150-166, March.
    11. Rosaria Burchielli & Donna Buttigieg & Annie Delaney, 2008. "Organizing homeworkers: the use of mapping as an organizing tool," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 22(1), pages 167-180, March.
    12. David Lewis & Wim Vandekerckhove, 2018. "Trade Unions and the Whistleblowing Process in the UK: An Opportunity for Strategic Expansion?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 835-845, April.
    13. Catherine Le Capitaine & Gregor Murray & Christian Lévesque, 2013. "Special Issue. Edited by: Gregor Murray, Christian Lévesque, Christian Dufour and Adelheid Hege," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 389-408, July.
    14. Chris F Wright, 2013. "The response of unions to the rise of precarious work in Britain," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 24(3), pages 279-296, September.
    15. 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.
    16. Sarkar, Santanu & Kuruvilla, Sarosh, 2020. "Constructing transnational solidarity: the role of campaign governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101164, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Bosch Gerhard & Schmitz Jutta & Haipeter Thomas & Spallek Anne-Christin, 2020. "Gestaltung von Industrie 4.0 durch gewerkschaftliche Betriebspolitik," Arbeit, De Gruyter, vol. 29(1), pages 3-23, March.
    18. Davide Però, 2020. "Indie Unions, Organizing and Labour Renewal: Learning from Precarious Migrant Workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 900-918, October.
    19. Martí López-Andreu, 2020. "Breaking Fragmentation through Mobilization: The Development of a Collective Identity during Movistar’s Contractors’ and Technicians’ Strike in Spain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(4), pages 661-677, August.
    20. Carl Parker & James Rees, 2013. "Membership growth at a time of union decline," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 19(4), pages 521-538, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:29:y:2015:i:5:p:843-854. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.