Torsten Geelan

Why Britain’s labour movement needs a red-hot media strategy

After a summer of strikes, unions need to up their media game to make real and lasting gains for workers.

openDemocracy

As a sociologist researching the relationship between trade unions and the media, I watched with fascination – and admiration – as an estimated 200,000 workers took strike action in the UK this summer in response to the cost of living crisis. Over the next few days, unions are expected to…

The Combustible Mix of Coalitional and Discursive Power

British Trade Unions, Social Media and the People's Assembly Against Austerity

New Technology, Work and Employment, 37 (2): 161-184

This article investigates how the British trade union movement sought to challenge the politics of austerity after the North Atlantic financial crisis of 2008 by founding a union-led coalition: the People’s Assembly Against Austerity. To lay the ground for the study, it redefines the concept of discursive power as the…

Companies face growing employee climate activism

The climate catastrophe is provoking action in the boardroom as pressure mounts among the workforce. Management teams are changing business plans to be more climate-friendly or risk losing talent.

FORESIGHT magazine

In October 2021, more than 1100 employees at McKinsey, a US consultancy, signed an open letter to the managing partners of the company urging them to disclose the level of carbon emitted by their clients. “Inaction on (or perhaps assistance with) client emissions poses a serious risk to the companies,…

The Internet, Social Media and Trade Union Revitalization

Still Behind the Digital Curve or Catching Up?

New Technology, Work and Employment, 36: 123-139

This article introduces the special issue of New Technology, Work and Employment titled “The Internet, Social Media and Trade Union Revitalization: Still Behind the Digital Curve or Catching Up?” The objectives of this special issue are threefold. First, to develop an analytical framework that can help researchers assess the role…

The Return of the ‘C’ Word: SASE conference 2019

At an international conference in New York City, a new group of scholars is studying alternatives to capitalism.

openDemocracy

In an historical moment when governments and citizens around the world are called on to take action to face multiple crises in the environment, the economy and society, research into alternatives to capitalism has begun to flourish. While the study of capitalism is all but a new phenomenon – passing…

Towards a New Web of Rules

An International Review of Institutional Experimentation to Strengthen Employment Protections

Employee Relations, 41 (2): 313-330

The purpose of this paper is to review “institutional experimentation” for protecting workers in response to the contraction of the standard employment relationship and the corresponding rise of “non-standard” forms of paid work. The paper draws on the existing research and knowledge base of the authors as well as a…

From Financial Crisis to Social Change

Towards Alternative Horizons

Palgrave Macmillan

This edited collection critically engages with a range of contemporary issues in the aftermath of the North Atlantic financial crisis that began in 2007. From challenging the erosion of academic authority to the myth that parliamentary democracy is not worth engaging with, it addresses three interrelated questions facing young people…

The Academic Precariat

Danish Sociology, 28 (2): 27-51

Theories of social class have traditionally described highly educated people as a privileged group in society. However in the past decade several studies of the academic labour market in Europe have shown that precarious forms of employment are becoming increasingly common. This article assesses the extent to which Guy Standing’s…

Enhancing Transnational Labour Solidarity

The Unfulfilled Promise of the Internet and Social Media

Industrial Relations Journal, 48 (4): 345-364

This article examines the activities of Union Solidarity International (USI), a new UK-based organisation in the international union arena. USI seeks to encourage and support international solidarity between trade unions and other worker movements around the world by harnessing the dynamism of the Internet and social media. Drawing on a…

Book Review

Worker Resistance and Media: Challenging Global Corporate Power in the 21st Century

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 54 (1): 239-240

This book is a welcome addition to the academic literature on the relationship between trade unions and new forms of digital communication (the Internet and social media). The debate thus far has focused on opportunities for union revitalization by enhancing union democracy and communication, or applying pressure on employers through…

Danish Trade Unions and Young People

Using Media in the Battle for Hearts and Minds

Palgrave Macmillan

This chapter presents a case study of the ‘Are you OK?’ campaign launched in 2012 by the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Confederation of Professionals in Denmark (FTF) (which have since merged). Together these two organisations represented almost 100 affiliated unions and 30,000 shop stewards. The campaign’s…

Responses of Trade Union Confederations to the Youth Employment Crisis

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 19 (3): 399-413

The current economic recession has had a dramatic impact on youth employment across Europe. This article analyses responses by trade union confederations in Denmark and the UK. Looking first at their power capacities (with a specific focus on communicative power and its relevance for young people), the article moves on…