Importing low-density ideas to high-density revitalisation: The ‘organising model’ in Denmark

Jens Arnholtz, Christian Lyhne Ibsen and Flemming Ibsen
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Jens Arnholtz: FAOS, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Christian Lyhne Ibsen: FAOS, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Flemming Ibsen: University of Aalborg, Denmark

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2016, vol. 37, issue 2, 297-317

Abstract: Why did union officials from a high-union-density country like Denmark choose to import an organising strategy from low-density countries such as the US and the UK? Drawing on in-depth interviews with key union officials and internal documents, the authors of this article argue two key points. First, rather than unions settling for a semi-automatic response to membership decline, the ‘organising model’ was actively imported as a strategic tool for challenging alternative responses to membership decline. Second, the organising model was actively translated into a Danish context and most unions cherry-pick some elements while leaving fundamental aspects out. The study nevertheless indicates that a lack of coherency and model-fit to Danish industrial relations might hamper the positive effects of the organising strategy.

Keywords: Denmark; institutional diffusion; organising; trade unions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:37:y:2016:i:2:p:297-317

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X14549034

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