tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post3007186805074544238..comments2024-03-29T09:14:53.583+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: 'A Graphic Description of Trade Union Life'Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-7245720500032553682008-01-02T14:25:00.000+00:002008-01-02T14:25:00.000+00:00I've long thought the key for getting British tra...I've long thought the key for getting British trade unions to be more relevant is to involve themselves in campaigning activities that complements workplace representation. The social movement trade unionism pushed by this <A HREF="http://unionrenewal.blogspot.com" REL="nofollow">blog</A> is the ticket.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-77046366356741337782008-01-02T12:18:00.000+00:002008-01-02T12:18:00.000+00:00Zygmunt Bauman in Between Class and Elite: The Evo...Zygmunt Bauman in Between Class and Elite: The Evolution of the British Labour Movement – A Sociological Study (1972) delineates the trade unions investigated by the Webbs as merely representing sectorial interests and juxtaposes these with the class-based trade unions schematized by Brentano ‘On the History and Development of Gilds’ in T Smith (Ed) English Gilds (1870). Gramsci in Selections From Political Writings 1921 – 1926 (1978) asserts that the trade union movement is nothing but a political movement and its leaders nothing but political leaders… <BR/><BR/>It’s contemporary trade unions narrow scope that has been concomitant to them withering on the vine. Why not broaden their scope? Why not attempt to engage with people? Why are they merely reactive? I know it’s a Trotsky argument but it is still as relevant today as ever: they have a tendency towards bureaucracy. What is the likelihood of a trade union movement that aims for human emancipation within the British Isles as the class-based trade unions / gilds had done previously?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com