Dados is one of the most widely-read social sciences journals in Latin America. Created in 1966, it publishes innovative works, originating from academic research, by Brazilian and foreign authors. Edited by IESP-UERJ, it aims to reconcile scientific rigor and academic excellence with an emphasis on public debate based on the analysis of substantive issues of society and politics.
Dados vol. 44 n. 1 Rio de Janeiro 2001
Abstract
Recent literature approaching the impacts of social and economic transformations on trade unionism in both Brazil and the world tends to emphasize structural determinants of the current crisis in union representativeness. However, comparative analysis suggests that variation in the unionization rate also depends on action strategies by union leadership and specific political or ideological situations in given countries. The article points out that an exclusive focus on structural determinants makes excessive concessions to globalization as an interpretative key, thereby denying space to politics. By way of demonstration, the article analyzes union membership rates in Brazil from 1988 to 1998 according to the economic sectors and individual characteristics of the adult wage-earning population. It further demonstrates that the economic reforms now under way in Brazil explain the absolute variation in the number of union members, but not the relative variation, which suggests room for agency.
Keywords: trade unionism, globalization, trade union density, economic restructuring, trade union strategies
DOI: 10.1590/S0011-52582001000100003
Trade union membership in Brazil
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