Abstract
The place of trade unions within the national power structures — specifically, the relationship between the unions and the state — has been at the heart of activity and policy since labour organization was permitted in 1884. By legalizing union activity (albeit within strict limits) the republican government sought to channel working-class protest and marginalize radical activists. The state’s reponse was conditioned by a fear of unrest fuelled by memories of France’s revolutionary past and the fragility of its own institutions. The strategic dilemmas created by the state’s approach for the already politicized syndicalist movement have never disappeared, and they go a long way towards explaining the notorious divisions which continue to plague the French labour movement.
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© 2000 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Milner, S. (2000). Trade Unions: a New Civil Agenda?. In: Raymond, G.G. (eds) Structures of Power in Modern France. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983645_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983645_3
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