Transformations of Trade Unionism

Ad Knotter

The historical experiences of workers organizing in Europe and the United States figure among the many forms of workers? resistance resulting from the variety of labour relations in the global past. They cannot and will not be uniformly duplicated or copied from their present form in the global transformations of labour and workers? movements that we are witnessing today. Nevertheless, in the twentieth century trade unionism as a form of collective agency among workers became a global phenomenon. With growing numbers of workers being exposed to wage labour and labour markets, the cases of workers organizing in the original heartlands of trade unionism in Europe and the United States can provide a historical background for future prospects and transformations. Based on comparisons of long-term developments and focusing on transnational connections, Transformations of Trade Unionism...