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Rethinking trade unionism: Union renewal as transition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Peter Fairbrother
Peter Fairbrother*
Affiliation:
RMIT University, Australia
*
Peter Fairbrother, Centre for Sustainable Organisations and Work, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Union renewal has been the subject of debate over the last two decades. Via a review of these debates, a revision of the union renewal thesis is presented, suggesting that union renewal should be examined as a process of transition. Three analytic dimensions of renewal are identified and presented, each arising out of a consideration of the debates: union organisation, union capacity and union purpose. The proposition is that an understanding of contemporary unionism involves a consideration of the ways renewal involves a multi-faceted transition in relation to the political economy of trade unionism. The way to understand this characterisation is to reconsider theories about unions in terms of a dialectic, addressing the inter-relationships and integration of union organisation, capacities and purpose.

Keywords

J51Labour relationsneo-liberalismsocial justicetrade unionsunion renewal
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 26 , Issue 4: Special Collection: Union Organising and Revitalisation , December 2015 , pp. 561 - 576
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015

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