The power resources approach

Stefan Schmalz

Chapter 35 in Theories and Concepts in Work and Employment Relations, 2025, pp 302-307 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: A number of scholars have argued that workers are developing their power by collectively mobilizing power resources to influence the asymmetric relationship between capital and labour. From this debate, the power resources approach (PRA) emerged as a research heuristic. This chapter presents ongoing discussions on the PRA and a scheme to differentiate workers’ power into structural, associational, institutional and societal power. The origins of the PRA can be traced back to Erik Olin Wright's and Beverly Silver's work on working-class power. Later, new concepts and discussions on workers’ powers emerged. For example, recent studies in employment relations have focused on the role of digitalization and its impact on labour relations through a PRA perspective. The chapter also provides an overview of critiques of the PRA. It concludes with a presentation of new fields of research in the debate about the PRA.

Keywords: Power resources; Trade unions; Employment relations; Organizing; Labour; Digitalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035316199
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