The Struggle for a Social Europe: Trade Unions and EMU in Times of Global Restructuring

Description

This book provides a detailed investigation and comparison of the trade unions of five EU member states: Austria, Britain, France, Germany and Sweden, and their positions on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Several European-level trade union organisations are also examined. The focus of this project, however, is not limited to EMU as a case study. Rather, EMU is regarded as a vehicle to assess trade unions' options and possibilities to respond to global structural change in general and to participate in the formation of the future economic-political system of the EU in particular. Two principal hypotheses are investigated. Firstly, that a labour movement's position on EMU depends crucially on its length and degree of exposure to the competitive pressures of globalisation, and secondly, that those trade unions which lose influence within the domestic institutional set-up are most in favour of the establishment of an industrial relations system and social regulation at the European level to counter global pressures. By contrast, unions which continue to enjoy a strong position at the national level, are less likely to engage in European co-operation. -- .

Andreas Bieler is Senior Lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham -- .

" This is an extraordinarily important book - path-breaking in its coverage, rigorous in its scholarship, and sophisticated in its theorizing. It turns the spotlight of our attention onto institutions and social forces normally disregarded in the mainstream literature on European integration. By bringing the trade unions of 5 major European countries into such sharp focus, Andreas Bieler reminds us of the crucial role of organized labour in the shaping of a social Europe. It is a reminder that is long overdue. Clearly structured and tightly argued around a set of persuasive theses, this book will be a valuable point of reference for the many scholars and political activists now seeking to tame the neo-liberal excesses of an unregulated global capitalism." --David Coates, Wake Forest University "This is an extraordinarily important book - path-breaking in its coverage, rigorous in its scholarship, and sophisticated in its theorizing. It turns the spotlight of our attention onto institutions and social forces normally disregarded in the mainstream literature on European integration. By bringing the trade unions of 5 major European countries into such sharp focus, Andreas Bieler reminds us of the crucial role of organized labour in the shaping of a social Europe. It is a reminder that is long overdue. Clearly structured and tightly argued around a set of persuasive theses, this book will be a valuable point of reference for the many scholars and political activists now seeking to tame the neo-liberal excesses of an unregulated global capitalism."--David Coates, Wake Forest University 0;This is an extraordinarily important book 1; path-breaking in its coverage, rigorous in its scholarship, and sophisticated in its theorizing. It turns the spotlight of our attention onto institutions and social forces normally disregarded in the mainstream literature on European integration. By bringing the trade unions of 5 major European countries into such sharp focus, Andreas Bieler reminds us of the crucial role of organized labour in the shaping of a social Europe. It is a reminder that is long overdue. Clearly structured and tightly argued around a set of persuasive theses, this book will be a valuable point of reference for the many scholars and political activists now seeking to tame the neo-liberal excesses of an unregulated global capitalism.1;--David Coates, Wake Forest University