IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/treure/v13y2007i2p193-210.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How can trade unions act strategically?

Author

Listed:
  • Richard Hyman

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

It is generally agreed that trade unions require new strategies to respond to external and internal challenges. Economic internationalisation makes it easier for employers to escape national structures of employment regulation, and appears to weaken the ability of governments to defend nationally-based social models; sectoral and occupational shifts in employment erode traditional union strongholds, while social and ideological changes undermine workers' traditional orientation to collectivism. Yet what do we mean by trade union strategy, and how can it be modernised? This article addresses in particular the literatures on organisational learning, social capital and vocabularies of motive to explore how the twin principles of leadership and democracy can be harnessed to meet the challenges of the ‘new’ capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Hyman, 2007. "How can trade unions act strategically?," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 13(2), pages 193-210, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:13:y:2007:i:2:p:193-210
    DOI: 10.1177/102425890701300204
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/102425890701300204
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/102425890701300204?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. Richard M. Locke & Kathleen Thelen, 1995. "Apples and Oranges Revisited: Contextualized Comparisons and the Study of Comparative Labor Politics," Politics & Society, , vol. 23(3), pages 337-367, September.
    2. Schmidt, Vivien A., 2002. "The Futures of European Capitalism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199253685.
    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. Carla Lima Aranzaes & Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Philip S. DeOrtentiis & Maite Tapia, 2024. "Solidarity with atypical workers? Survey evidence from the General Motors versus United Auto Workers strike in 2019," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 72-97, March.
    2. Alex Pazaitis & Vasilis Kostakis & Michel Bauwens, 2017. "Digital economy and the rise of open cooperativism: the case of the Enspiral Network," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(2), pages 177-192, May.
    3. 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.
    4. Christian Dufour & Adelheid Hege, 2010. "The legitimacy of collective actors and trade union renewal," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 16(3), pages 351-367, August.
    5. Davide Però & John Downey, 2024. "Advancing Workers’ Rights in the Gig Economy through Discursive Power: The Communicative Strategies of Indie Unions," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(1), pages 140-160, February.
    6. 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.
    7. Steffen Lehndorff, 2015. "Acting in different worlds. Challenges to transnational trade union cooperation in the eurozone crisis," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 21(2), pages 157-170, May.
    8. Michele Ford & Michael Gillan, 2022. "Understanding global union repertoires of action," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(6), pages 559-577, November.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.

    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. 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. Eduardo Ortas & Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez & Igor Álvarez, 2019. "National institutions, stakeholder engagement, and firms' environmental, social, and governance performance," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 598-611, May.
    3. , Stone Center & Ranaldi, Marco, 2020. "Distributional Aspects of Economic Systems," SocArXiv n7wj4, Center for Open Science.
    4. Matthew Amengual & Janice Fine, 2017. "Co‐enforcing Labor standards: the unique contributions of state and worker organizations in Argentina and the United States," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 129-142, June.
    5. Sander Meijerink & Sabina Stiller, 2013. "What Kind of Leadership Do We Need for Climate Adaptation? A Framework for Analyzing Leadership Objectives, Functions, and Tasks in Climate Change Adaptation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(2), pages 240-256, April.
    6. Hubert Buch‐Hansen, 2012. "The political economy of regulatory change: The case of British merger control," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 101-118, March.
    7. Peter Humphreys & Seamus Simpson, 2008. "Globalization, the 'Competition' State and the Rise of the 'Regulatory' State in European Telecommunications," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46, pages 849-874, September.
    8. Bruno Amable & Elvire Guillaud & Stefano Palombarini, 2011. "The political economy of neo-liberalism in Italy and France," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 11051, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    9. Patrick Kaczmarczyk, 2020. "Growth Models and the Footprint of Transnational Capital," Working Papers hal-03471320, HAL.
    10. Ergen, Timur & Kohl, Sebastian & Braun, Benjamin, 2021. "Firm foundations: The statistical footprint of multinational corporations as a problem for political economy," MPIfG Discussion Paper 21/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    11. Bob Hancke & Toon Van Overbeke & Dustin Voss, 2021. "Similar but different? Comparing economic policy responses to the Corona Crisis in the UK and Germany," LEQS – LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series 165, European Institute, LSE.
    12. Kevin Featherstone, 2008. "‘Varieties of Capitalism’ and the Greek case: explaining the constraints on domestic reform?," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 11, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    13. Daniel Béland & André Lecours, 2010. "Does Nationalism Trigger Welfare-State Disintegration? Social Policy and Territorial Mobilization in Belgium and Canada," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(3), pages 420-434, June.
    14. Baccaro, Lucio. & Locke, Richard M., 1959-, 1996. "The end of solidarity? : the decline of egalitarian wage policies in Italy and Sweden," Working papers 3899-96., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    15. Featherstone, Kevin, 2008. ""Varieties of capitalism" and the Greek case: explaining the constraints on domestic reform?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 5608, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Kathleen Thelen, 2009. "Institutional Change in Advanced Political Economies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(3), pages 471-498, September.
    17. Ray Hudson, 2005. "Rethinking Change in Old Industrial Regions: Reflecting on the Experiences of North East England," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(4), pages 581-596, April.
    18. Roy Trivedi, Smita, 2011. "The growing dichotomy between real and financial sectors," MPRA Paper 41421, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Vladimir Stojanovski, 2022. "Policy Processes in the Institutionalisation of Private Forestry in the Republic of North Macedonia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-20, March.
    20. James Buckley & David Howarth, 2010. "Internal Market: Gesture Politics? Explaining the EU's Response to the Financial Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(s1), pages 119-141, September.

    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:treure:v:13:y:2007:i:2:p:193-210. 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: .

    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.