Editorial: Trade Unions and Social Policy in the Process of European Integration
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Johannes Kiess
Johannes Kiess , Dr. phil., is a PostDoc at the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Siegen and deputy director of the Else-Frenkel-Brunswik Institute for Democracy Research at Leipzig University. His research interests and teaching subjects include industrial relations, European integration, political mobilisation, and political attitudes with a special focus on right-wing extremism.Martin Seeliger is head of a research group on ‘Institutional Change in the Political Economy of Labour’ at the Institute for Labour and Economy in Bremen. He works on questions from the field of political sociology, labour relations and cultural studies.
Abstract
This special issue brings together innovative theoretical perspectives and timely empirical research on trade unions’ impact on the formation and implementation of social policy across Europe and on the European level. The starting point of this editorial and the baseline for the articles included in the issue is the assumption that trade unions remain an important factor in creating and maintaining social policies in the course of European integration. However, the integration process has fundamentally transformed the power constellation between state, capital and labour that once facilitated the post-war establishment of national welfare states in Europe. Since this new constellation impedes trade unions on both the national and transnational level, the emergence of a ‘Social Europe’ remains an unfulfilled promise. In this situation, our editorial focuses on the national impact on European social policy and the European impact on national social policy. This special issue then contributes to the literature in three relevant areas. International comparisons improve our understanding of national policy dynamics and help us in making sense of the institutional heterogeneity within the EU-27. Such comparisons can reach their theoretical potential when applied in explaining institutional dynamics within the multi-level political system of the EU. Last but not least, analyses in the field aim at identifying transnational effects stemming from mutual observation or bilateral initiatives, such as wage coordination or transnational organisations.
About the authors
Johannes Kiess, Dr. phil., is a PostDoc at the Department of Social Sciences of the University of Siegen and deputy director of the Else-Frenkel-Brunswik Institute for Democracy Research at Leipzig University. His research interests and teaching subjects include industrial relations, European integration, political mobilisation, and political attitudes with a special focus on right-wing extremism.
Martin Seeliger is head of a research group on ‘Institutional Change in the Political Economy of Labour’ at the Institute for Labour and Economy in Bremen. He works on questions from the field of political sociology, labour relations and cultural studies.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Inhalt
- Editorial: Trade Unions and Social Policy in the Process of European Integration
- Opportunities and Traps for Trade Unions in European Employment Policy Initiatives
- Defending institutional power? Unions’ positions towards the extension of collective agreements in Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands
- From ‘Protecting Indigenous Workers’ towards Protecting Labour Standards?
- Competitive Europeanisation, Transnational Production and a Multiscalar Perspective on Social Policy in Europe
Articles in the same Issue
- Inhalt
- Editorial: Trade Unions and Social Policy in the Process of European Integration
- Opportunities and Traps for Trade Unions in European Employment Policy Initiatives
- Defending institutional power? Unions’ positions towards the extension of collective agreements in Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands
- From ‘Protecting Indigenous Workers’ towards Protecting Labour Standards?
- Competitive Europeanisation, Transnational Production and a Multiscalar Perspective on Social Policy in Europe
