A01=Geoffrey Wood
ANC
Author_Geoffrey Wood
business
Category=KNXU
CGT
Chronic
CIO
collective bargaining
COSATU
decline
Declining Union Membership
density
employment policy analysis
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
European Works Council
Full Time Officials
global
Global Social Movement Unionism
IMF
industrial relations
internal
Internal Union Democracy
internal union governance models
labor movement theory
labour
Labour Leaders
movement
Neo-liberal Hegemony
pact
Peripheral Employees
political accountability
Post-war
social
Social Movement Unionism
Social Partnerships
South African Communist Party
Trade Union
Union Density
Union Membership Densities
Union Party Links
Union Party Relationships
unionism
United Democratic Front
Vice Versa
worker representation
Product details
- ISBN 9781412805711
- Weight: 453g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 03 Jan 2006
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Inc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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Trade Unions and Democracy explores the role of trade unions as products of, and agents for, democracy. As civil society agents, unions may promote democracy within the wider society, especially in the case of authoritarian regimes or other rigid political systems, by acting as watchdogs and protecting hard-won democratic gains.Established democratic institutions in many advanced societies are facing new challenges. The problem with using trade unions for this purpose is that they remain locked in a cycle of political marginalization and decline. Beyond this, there are, ironically, serious questions about whether unions themselves internally function as democracies. Certainly there are tensions between rank and file membership and an authoritarian leadership, with this infighting having possible effects on strategic deals or alliances and member accountability and actions. On the other hand, trade unions continue to represent a significant component of society within most industrialized countries, and in many case, they have a demonstrated capacity for working with other elements of civil society. Looking forward, trade unions may be able to play a vital role in channeling and focusing spontaneous popular upsurges. In the process, they may revitalize themselves through use of greater internal democracy and become geared toward more diverse constituencies. The question is, will they fulfill this promise or continue to suffer from internal breakups and external breakdowns? Can trade unions save themselves and democracy, or will both deteriorate in time?Trade Unions and Democracy brings together a distinguished panel of leading and emerging scholars in the field and provides a critical assessment of the current role of trade unions in society. It explores their capacity to affect political policies to ensure greater accountability and fairness. It also explores the nature of and extent to which internal representative democracy actually operates within trade unions themselves.Mark Harcourt is a professor in the Department of Strategic Management and Leadership at Waikato University in New Zealand.
Mark Harcourt is a professor in the Department of Strategic Management and Leadership at Waikato University in New Zealand. Geoffrey Wood served as special advisor on financial stability at the Federal Reserve from 1994 to 2004. He has also advised the New Zealand Treasury on a wide range of issues, and has also been a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
