Between Class and Market Postwar Unionization in the Capitalist Democracies / Bruce Western.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Western, Bruce, 1964- Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Labor unions--History--20th century.

Labor unions.

Sindacati--Storia--Sec. 20.

Local Subjects:

Sindacati--Storia--Sec. 20.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (254 pages) : illustrations

Manufacture:

Baltimore, Md. : Project MUSE, 2021

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, 1999.

Summary:

In the United States, less than one worker in five is currently in a labor union, while in Sweden, virtually the entire workforce is unionized. Despite compelling evidence for their positive effects, even the strongest European unions are now in retreat as some policymakers herald the U.S. model of market deregulation. These differences in union power significantly affect workers' living standards and the fortunes of national economies. What explains the enormous variation in unionization and why has the last decade been so hostile to organized labor? Bruce Western tackles these questions in an analysis of labor union organization in eighteen capitalist democracies from 1950 to 1990. Combining insights from sociology and economics in a novel way, Western views unions as the joint product of market forces and political and economic institutions. The author argues that three institutional conditions are essential for union growth: strong working-class political parties, centralized collective bargaining, and union-run unemployment insurance. These conditions shaped the impact of market currents and explain variations across industries, across countries, and over time for the four decades since 1950. Between Class and Market traces the story of the postwar labor movements supported by a blend of historical investigation and sophisticated statistical analysis in an innovative framework for comparative research. Western tightly integrates institutional explanation and comparative method in a way that balances comparative generality with the unique historical experiences of specific cases.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

PART I: THE PROBLEM

One Class Power, Market Power, and the Comparative Method

Two Variation in Union Membership

PART II: THE INSTITUTIONAL SOURCES OF UNION GROWTH

Three Labor Market Centralization

Four The Ghent System

Five Political Parties and Trade Unions

PART III: ESTIMATING THE INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTS

Six Cross-Sectional Analysis of Union Density

Seven The Business Cycle and Union Growth

Eight The Structure of Labor Markets

PART IV: THE TURBULENT 1980s

Nine Introducing the Decline of Unions in the 1980s

Ten Power, Efficiency, and Institutional Change

Eleven Globalization, Institutional Change, and Union Decline in the 1980s

Twelve Conclusion

Appendix: Data and Methods

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [205]-222) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691214573

0691214573

OCLC:

1227051702