Organising and Union Modernisation: Narratives of Renewal in Britain

Abstract

This chapter presents an assessment of the union organising agenda in Britain. It considers the origins and recent developments of organising, and assesses how the union movement has sought to operationalise organising as a tool for revitalisation. The nature and relative efficacy of the concept for union revitalisation has stimulated an extensive academic debate — see for example, the recent exchanges between Carter (2006) and de Turberville (2004, 2007a, and this volume). Whilst there is general consensus on the importance of organising to the reinvigoration of activist networks and self-activity, commentaries on the conceptual ideals and practical realities of organising have been more divided. To what extent, for example, is it to possible to differentiate union organising from ‘union servicing’? And how should the respective roles of workplace activists and EUOs be prioritised, and articulated, in relation to the furtherance of organising?