Between class and market : postwar unionization in the capitalist democracies
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Between class and market : postwar unionization in the capitalist democracies
Princeton University Press, 1999, c1997
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical reference and index
"Second printing, and first paperback printing, 1999" -- T.p. verso
Description and Table of Contents
Description
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.
Table of Contents
List of FiguresList of TablesAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations1Class Power, Market Power, and the Comparative Method32Variation in Union Membership143Labor Market Centralization294The Ghent System505Political Parties and Trade Unions666Cross-Sectional Analysis of Union Density877The Business Cycle and Union Growth1028The Structure of Labor Markets1229Introducing the Decline of Unions in the 1980s14310Power, Efficiency, and Institutional Change15611Globalization, Institutional Change, and Union Decline in the 1980s17612Conclusion193Appendix: Data and Methods199Bibliography205Index223</
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