Unions in transformation
union action “models”-the international debate
Keywords:
Unions’ crisis, Models of unions’ strategies, Class interests, AgencyAbstract
he article deals with the present crisis of unions by examining a foreign literature which tries to develop theoretical frameworks to advance a better understanding of the phenomenon. The analyzed authors have the merit of seeking to overcome the limits of the empirical-descriptive analysis. Instead, they propose different models of analysis, although tending to converge by focusing on the internal aspects to the unions (power resources; innovative strategies; leadership renovation), considered as decisive factors for the understanding of the phenomenon. They reject, therefore, the analyses based on the ideas of a structural conflict between capital and labor and that the decline of the unions would be explained by external factors alone, such as the changes in the economy and in the world of labor. Contrary to the homogeneity of the outcomes shown by the latter assumption, the authors emphasize the diversity of situations, a result not only of the social context, but overall, of the actors’ (unions) capacities of acting strategically in face of the new challenges.
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