Labour in Need of Revolutionary Vision

Abstract

The labour movement's inability to effectively respond to neoliberalism has resulted in reduced union membership and declining public status and influence of labour unions. This is having a cascading effect on other institutions that are at least peripherally linked with the working class, from the rightward march of social democratic parties to the move away from class as the foundation of labour history. I suggest that the absence of revolutionary unions, those fighting for a future beyond capitalism, is one of the key underlying causes of labour's current malaise. By revolutionary unions, I mean unions that are explicitly pro-socialist and anti-capitalist in intent and that, by their actions and by the response of capital and state to those actions, foster an awareness of the class nature of society, the specific interests of working people as a class, and possibilities for collectively pursuing a better future.

The Spatial Scope of Youth-Related Claims Making in Nine European Countries

“…Although different in their objectives and position in these reforms, political parties tend to be nationally oriented during austerity and crisis times (e.g., Sommer, 2019). The penetrating neoliberal and austerity national scale reforms in labor markets and welfare systems have also significantly affected youth-related claims making by labor unions , given their deep consequences for youth, across all European countries (Bengtsson & Ryner, 2017; Hermann, 2014; Lehndorff et al, 2017; Schmidt et al, 2019; Selby, 2019; Vandaele, 2019).…”