IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v52y2021i2p125-144.html

Does work socialisation matter? Worker engagement in political activities, attachment to democracy and openness to immigration

Author

Listed:
  • Lorraine Ryan
  • Thomas Turner

Abstract

The effects of work socialisation on worker engagement in political activities, attachment to democracy and openness to outsiders are explored in this article. Work environments are measured using firm size, unionisation and employee participation as significant factors that contribute to the development of democratic or authoritarian sentiment at work. Using data from the European Social Survey across 11 countries, we test whether work socialisation influences individuals' attitudes such as trust in the societal institutions of democracy, active involvement in political activities and openness to outsiders, particularly immigrants. Results indicate that individuals working in large organisations accompanied by higher levels of voice and participation at work are more likely to report greater political engagement, trust in politics, trust in people and openness to outsiders compared to workers in small organisations with low levels of voice and participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorraine Ryan & Thomas Turner, 2021. "Does work socialisation matter? Worker engagement in political activities, attachment to democracy and openness to immigration," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 125-144, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:52:y:2021:i:2:p:125-144
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12319
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12319
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12319?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. Christoph Arndt & Line Rennwald, 2017. "Workplace Characteristics and Working Class Vote for the Old and New Right," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 137-164, March.
    2. Fabrice Murtin & Lara Fleischer & Vincent Siegerink & Arnstein Aassve & Yann Algan & Romina Boarini & Santiago González & Zsuzsanna Lonti & Gianluca Grimalda & Rafael Hortala Vallve & Soonhee Kim & Da, 2018. "Trust and its determinants: Evidence from the Trustlab experiment," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2018/2, OECD Publishing.
    3. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/h44c7ona088fb5o9b5dq3nt9u is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Diez, Thomas & Stetter, Stephan & Albert, Mathias, 2006. "The European Union and Border Conflicts: The Transformative Power of Integration," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(3), pages 563-593, July.
    5. Daryl D’Art & Thomas Turner, 2007. "Trade Unions and Political Participation in the European Union: Still Providing a Democratic Dividend?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 103-126, March.
    6. Ellen Quintelier & Jan W. Deth, 2014. "Supporting Democracy: Political Participation and Political Attitudes. Exploring Causality Using Panel Data," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 62, pages 153-171, April.
    7. Duncan Gallie & Alan Felstead & Francis Green, 2004. "Changing Patterns of Task Discretion in Britain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 18(2), pages 243-266, June.
    8. Ole Busck & Herman Knudsen & Jens Lind, 2010. "The transformation of employee participation: Consequences for the work environment," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 31(3), pages 285-305, August.
    9. Fabrice Murtin & Lara Fleischer & Vincent Siegerink & Arnstein Aassve & Yann Algan & Romina Boarini & Santiago Gonzalez & Zsuzsanna Lonti & Ulrich Schmidt & Gianluca Grimalda & Rafael Hortala Vallve &, 2018. "Trust and its determinants," Sciences Po Economics Publications (main) hal-03596480, HAL.
      • Fabrice Murtin & Lara Fleischer & Vincent Siegerink & Arnstein Aassve & Yann Algan & Romina Boarini & Santiago Gonzalez & Zsuzsanna Lonti & Ulrich Schmidt & Gianluca Grimalda & Rafael Hortala Vallve &, 2018. "Trust and its determinants," Working Papers hal-03596480, HAL.
    10. Patrick C. Flood & Bill Toner, 1997. "Large Non-Union Companies: How Do They Avoid a Catch 22?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 257-277, 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. Uwe Jirjahn & Thi Xuan Thu Le, 2024. "Political spillovers of workplace democracy in Germany," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(1), pages 5-31, March.
    2. Fenet Jima Bedaso & Uwe Jirjahn, 2024. "Immigrants and trade union membership: Does integration into society and workplace play a moderating role?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 262-292, June.
    3. Bilal Hassan, 2024. "Workplace democracy and democratic legitimacy in Europe," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(2), pages 389-414, May.
    4. Jirjahn, Uwe & Le, Thi Xuan Thu, 2023. "Works Councils and Workers' Party Preferences in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 15879, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Aliaksei Kazlou & Lin Lerpold & Örjan Sjöberg, 2024. "Trade unions, refugees and immigrant labour: Has the attitude changed? The stance of Swedish blue‐collar trade unions as evidenced by sentiment analysis," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 222-239, May.

    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. Uwe Jirjahn, 2025. "Political Spillovers of Worker Representation: With or Without Workplace Democracy?," Research Papers in Economics 2025-02, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    2. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/53c4o1e509lcr61ob4ntirirm is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Belard, Amandine & Farolfi, Stefano & Jourdain, Damien & Manyanga, Mark & Pedzisa, Tarisayi & Willinger, Marc, 2025. "They know each other, but do they trust each other? Social capital and selected beneficiaries of community-based development projects: A lab-in-the-field in rural Zimbabwe," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    4. Jirjahn, Uwe & Le, Thi Xuan Thu, 2023. "Works Councils and Workers' Party Preferences in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 15879, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Kim, Jeongbin & Putterman, Louis & Zhang, Xinyi, 2022. "Trust, Beliefs and Cooperation: Excavating a Foundation of Strong Economies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. Arnstein Aassve & Pierluigi Conzo & Francesco Mattioli, 2021. "Was Banfield right? New insights from a nationwide laboratory experiment," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1029-1064, November.
    7. Zhang, Zhe & Zhang, Xu & Putterman, Louis, 2019. "Trust and cooperation at a confluence of worlds: An experiment in Xinjiang, China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 128-144.
    8. Sanchayan Banerjee & Matteo M. Galizzi & Rafael Hortala-Vallve, 2021. "Trusting the Trust Game: An External Validity Analysis with a UK Representative Sample," Games, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, September.
    9. Seong Hee Kim, 2021. "Changes in Social Trust: Evidence from East German Migrants," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 959-981, June.
    10. Shaun Wilson & Benjamin Spies‐Butcher, 2011. "When Labour Makes a Difference: Union Mobilization and the 2007 Federal Election in Australia," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(Supplemen), pages 306-331, July.
    11. Loik Ramon, 2016. "Integration Trends of EU Internal Security and Law Enforcement: How Legal, Technological and Operational Advancements Matter," TalTech Journal of European Studies, Sciendo, vol. 6(2), pages 3-27, October.
    12. Yeikyoung Kim, 2016. "The European Union, regional integration, and conflict transformation in the South China Sea territorial disputes," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 383-399, December.
    13. Alex Bryson & Richard Freeman, 2008. "How Does Shared Capitalism Affect Economic Performance in the UK?," NBER Working Papers 14235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. David Marsden & Richard Belfield, 2010. "Institutions and the Management of Human Resources: Incentive Pay Systems in France and Great Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(2), pages 235-283, June.
    15. Jimmy Donaghey & Niall Cullinane & Tony Dundon & Adrian Wilkinson, 2011. "Reconceptualising employee silence," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(1), pages 51-67, March.
    16. Oldřich Šubrt, 2022. "Relationship of Work-Related Stress and Offline Social Leisure on Political Participation of Voters in the United States," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-35, May.
    17. Simon Eisele & Martin R. Schneider, 2020. "What Do Unions Do to Work Design? Computer Use, Union Presence, and Tayloristic Jobs in Britain," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(4), pages 604-626, October.
    18. Moosung Lee, 2016. "The EU, regional cooperation, and the North Korean nuclear crisis," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 401-415, December.
    19. Eleftheria KOLOKYTHA & Georgios KOLOKYTHAS & Fotini PERDIKI & Stavros VALSAMIDIS, 2018. "Labour Job Digitalization: Myths And Realities," Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences, University of Pitesti, vol. 17(2), pages 3-18.
    20. Radtke, Jörg, 2025. "E-participation in energy transitions: What does it mean? Chances and challenges within Germany's Energiewende," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    21. Thomas C. Stephens, 2025. "What has Happened to Job Quality in Britain? The Effect of Different Weighting Methods on Labour Market Inequalities and Changes Using a UK Quality of Work (QoW) Index, 2012–2021," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 177(2), pages 833-861, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:indrel:v:52:y:2021:i:2:p:125-144. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    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.