Unemployed Protests (original) (raw)

Economic and Political Strikes: A Social Movement Unionism Hypothesis

Socialism and Democracy, 2023

The European economic and political landscape has undergone significant changes since the 2008 economic and financial crisis. The 2008 economic downturn resulted in widespread job losses, reduced bargaining power for workers, and increased job insecurity, triggering a global recession that led to significant economic and political changes, including increased social unrest and protests (Rüdig and Karyotis 2014; Kriesi et al. 2020). In the aftermath of the crisis, economic and political strikes around the world have increased. Strikes have been observed in several European countries, especially in

Trade union responses to precarious employment in Germany

2011

Since the mid-1980s Germany saw a continuing increase of precarious employment which now amounts to about one third of the total labour force. Considering the negative social side-effects of this development, the voices which call for a re-regulation of the labour market have become more prominent in recent years. The study analyses strategic responses of German trade unions to the

Building Labor Solidarity in Precarious Times: The Danger of Union Paternalism

Labor Studies Journal, 2019

In a global context of union decline and widening economic insecurity, unions must decide how to relate to extra-workplace struggles and those without stable or unionized employment. One possibility is that unions will adopt a paternalistic view, in which they attempt to serve the interests of nonunion individuals and groups by disciplining them or speaking for them. Drawing on seventy-five brief interviews with participants in a protest led by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), I examine how union activists understood their relationship to the unemployed and local protests within residential areas. Revealing support for union involvement in extra-workplace struggles, the results show that South Africa’s legacy of social movement unionism remains strong. Yet, some union activists also wanted to discipline or substitute for community struggles, and felt the need to educate or speak for the unemployed. Such paternalistic views may become an obstacle to broad working-class solidarity, in South Africa or elsewhere.