Documents European Societies 20 results

"This study examines how digital platforms transform traditional patterns of grassroots labor mobilisation through a comparative analysis of two cases: the 2021 formation of Foreningen af Danske Sygeplejersker by nurses in Denmark and Las Kellys, an association of Spanish hotel chambermaids. While both organisations emerged from female-dominated sectors, their divergent trajectories show how institutional contexts and professional identities shape digital organising outcomes. Through analysis of social media data and interviews, we show how these groups used digital platforms to simultaneously maintain multiple forms of engagement: building collective identity among dispersed workers, challenging union leadership, and gaining public visibility.
In Denmark, FDS's targeted social media approach harnessed nurses' professional cohesion to successfully pressure their union into adapting wage demands, eventually leading to accommodation within existing structures. In Spain, Las Kellys' broader community-building strategy helped overcome worker isolation but resulted in organisational fragmentation, with some chapters becoming formal unions while others remained associations.
The comparison reveals how similar digital tools can produce different organisational outcomes depending on workers' structural position and unions' capacity for democratic renewal. Our findings contribute to understanding how digital platforms enable sustained grassroots engagement while highlighting the continued importance of institutional contexts and union democratic practices in shaping labor movement trajectories."

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"The literature on the far right is trying to connect with social movement studies. Scholars from different social scientific backgrounds are increasingly acknowledging that extra-parliamentary grassroots activism is part of the alliance and conflict structure of nativist collective actors. The recent rise in far-right street politics – or, precisely, its re-emergence with seemingly different clothes – should encourage the study of the inter-relations between party and non-party collective actors. As a case in point, the far right not only includes political parties geared towards elections and public office but also social movements or ‘networks of networks' that aim to mobilise public support, and a conglomeration of subcultural groups and groupuscules. By putting forward a three-part metric to analyse mobilisation factors at the macro, meso, and micro levels, this piece and the Special Issue it introduces bring the (inter-)relations between far-right parties, movements, and subcultures frontstage, and elaborate on nativist collective action across different arenas of contention."

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"The equality agenda has gained a much higher visibility in the UK and in France. Most unions have adopted specific measures to improve women's representation in their structures. However, even in highly feminised unions, women remain under-represented in union leadership positions. To understand the gap between the presence of women in the lay membership/activist population and their slow disappearance at the higher levels of the union hierarchy, this study is focused on the role of organizational contexts. We argue that to understand the feminisation of union leadership, we need to consider the characteristics of ‘internal union labour markets': ports of entry, typical/atypical career routes, norms of job evaluation, internal job segregation and hierarchy, human resources management and gender-equality policies. To fully grasp the influence of contexts on the process of feminisation, specific attention to the evolution of the repertoires of action by unions is also useful."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"This paper examines the impact of year-to-year increases in work intensity on economic well-being across European countries. Work intensity may rise through an increased number of months worked or the exit of dependent adult children. This study examines the differences between these two mechanisms. Both objective and subjective economic well-being are considered, namely, income levels and perceived ability to make ends meet. The analysis draws on 2010–2019 EU-SILC longitudinal data, focusing on individuals in households with adult children. It shows that, as work intensity increases from one year to the next, improvements in objective economic well-being are generally greater than those in subjective economic well-being. Both mechanisms are found to be relevant in improving income levels, especially if they occur simultaneously. The exit of dependent adult children proves effective in improving the perceived ability to make ends meet in some countries, but not all. Investing in quality employment could thus offer dual advantages, supporting young adults' transition to adulthood and improving their parents' economic well-being. In Southern European countries, households struggle to boost their work intensity from one year to the next, yet increased work intensity has a substantial impact on improving economic well-being there."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"The COVID-19 outbreak and resultant economic crisis has led to governments in Europe taking extraordinary action to support citizens. Bodies such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) recommend such measures should include targeted support for the most affected population groups. Women form one of these groups, with disproportionate impacts on their employment and economic resources already documented. Although the disruption brought about by the COVID-19 crisis has the potential to reshape gender relations for everyone's benefit, there are concerns that the crisis will exacerbate underlying gender inequalities. Though these impacts are likely to be felt globally, public policy has the potential to mitigate them and to ensure a gender-sensitive recovery from the crisis. This paper introduces a gendered lens on the employment and social policies European countries have established since the crisis, with a brief comparative analysis of shorttime working schemes in four countries – Germany, Italy, Norway, and the UK. Ongoing research seeks to extend the comparative, gendered analysis of the design, access and impacts of COVID-19 employment and social policies across Europe."

"This article examines disability discrimination in the hiring process and explores variation in how the intersection of disability and gender shapes employers' hiring behavior. We use data from a field experiment in which 2,048 job applications with randomly assigned information about disability were sent to Swedish employers with vacancies. Nondisabled applicants received 33% more callbacks than similarly qualified wheelchair users despite applying for jobs for which the impairment should not interfere with performance. The results indicate no heterogeneity in disability discrimination against men and women on average across occupations or by occupational gender segregation. However, discrimination rates differ considerably among occupations, varying from no evidence of disability discrimination to discrimination against both disabled men and disabled women as well as cases in which disability discrimination is found only against women or only against men. The results indicate that discrimination based on disability, and the intersection between disability and gender, is highly occupation specific."

This work is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

"This article examines the work–life balance system in Italy, with particular regard to the role played by extra-statutory arrangements and provision – extra leave, benefits and allowances for parents provided by employers, in-company crèches, family-friendly working hours, etc. – originated from collective bargaining and industrial relations at company-level. The Italian pattern of welfare state and women's employment is characterised by weak state support, a relevant role of intergenerational solidarity, one of the lowest fertility rates and still low women's activity rates. As for human resource management and industrial relations' contribution to work–life balance, empirical evidence shows that a certain number of extra-statutory arrangements and provision has been implemented at company level. Though, they are not enough to fill the gap with countries where state social protection is higher. The articles argue that industrial relations may play an important role in fostering a better work–life balance, on condition that a priority is given to decentralised collective bargaining and new ‘territorial pacts' involving a wider range of social actors – not only unions and the companies, but also families, local governments, caregivers and the cared-for. Particularly for unions, this could be a possible response to unionisation decline."

"Departing from growing concerns about in-work poverty and the proliferation of flexible employment, we investigate the association between temporary employment and poverty in a European comparative perspective. In doing so, we focus specifically on possible gender dimensions, because some are concerned that the impact of flexible employment on income security will be different for men and women and that gender inequality will increase. By means of a logistic multilevel model, we analyse recent EU-SILC data for 24 European countries. The results show that the temporarily employed have a higher poverty risk vis-à-vis permanent workers, mainly caused by lower wages. However, the risk factors to become working poor are similar. The poorly educated, young workers and those living in a single earner household with dependent children have an increased probability to live in poverty, whether they are employed on temporary or permanent basis. Differences between European welfare regimes demonstrate that policy constellations influence the magnitude of these risk factors. Counter-intuitively, temporary working women have a lower poverty risk than their male counterparts. They are better protected because they are more often secondary earners in a dual earning household, while men are more often primary earners. This article advances knowledge on the linkages between temporary employment, economic insecurity and gender differences in European welfare states."

"Research on European trade unionism has discussed whether the tendency towards ‘union diplomacy' has meant that that unions are largely disinterested in mobilizing members and pursue contentious action at the European level. Other studies have identified activities that suggest an Europeanization of political mobilization, in demonstrations and strikes and in cooperation with NGOs and social movements. The present paper analyzes attitudes towards transnational action among trade unions in Europe, as well as the degree to which national unions actually partake in more and less contentious action. The study, which is based on a survey to trade unions in Europe carried out in 2010–11 (n 250), focuses particularly on the production of joint statements and petitions, demonstrations and boycotts, and strikes. The aim was to identify the similarities and differences between industrial relations regimes and sectors in Europe and the analyses have revealed that there are in fact significant differences. Trade unions in the continental social partnership regime and the southern polarized/state centered regime tend to approve of and partake in European demonstrations and boycotts to a higher degree than unions in the other regimes, while the Nordic unions in the organized corporatist regime tend to be more skeptical and also participate to a lower degree. In addition, unions in services and organizing professionals tend to partake and approve of such action to a lower degree than unions in other sectors and national peak level unions."