Social Movements and Organized Labour : Passions and Interests

This book explores the building of alliances and joint activities between two groups of social movement actors. Offering both theoretical and empirical accounts of the political, social and economic catalysts behind joint collective action, the authors focus on the actors themselves, who transcend clear-cut social camps. The book examines the values and motives of actors, as well as the structural and strategic properties of inter-organizational relations and networks, thus offering a fresh account of the incompatibilities and commonalities of movements and unions, and of the prospects that exist for inter-organizational learning.

This book is about the building of alliances and about joint activities between two groups of social movement actors ascribed increasing relevance for the functioning and the eventual amendment of democratic capitalism. The chapters provide a well-balanced mix of theoretical and empirical accounts on the political, social and economic catalysts behind the changing motives finding expression in a multitude of novel types of joint collective action and inter-organizational alliances. The contributors to this volume go beyond attempting to place unions, movements, crises, precariousness, protests and coalitions at the centre of the research. Instead, they focus on actors who themselves transcend clear-cut social camps. They look at the values and motives underlying collective action by both types of actors as much as at their structural and strategic properties, and inter-organizational relations and networks. This creates a fresh, genuine and historically valid account of the incompatibilities and the commonalities of movements and unions, and of prospects for inter-organizational learning.