Jenny Jansson

The 1910s were a precarious time for the labor movement. The Russian Revolution in 1917 sparked a trend towards radicalization among labor organizations and communist organizations spread all over Europe. These organizations challenged existing notions of the worker, causing an identity crisis in class organizations. Suddenly, there were not only workers, but different kinds of workers, promoting not only social democracy and syndicalism, but also communism. The labor movement became fragmented. This was very much the case in Sweden. However, despite the conflict situation during the interwar period, the Swedish workers were integrated into a strong cohesive labor movement, united under the banner of reformism which, in turn, paved the way for a strong social democracy. How was this possible? This study presents an explanation of why the Swedish working class so unanimously adopted reformism. Its thesis is that the leadership of the Trade Union Confederation (LO) was well aware of the identity problems the leftwing factions had created for the reformist unions. Because of this, the leadership decided to take actions. As identity entrepreneurs the leaders re-formed the notion of the worker by constructing an organizational identity that downplayed class struggle and embraced discipline, peaceful solutions to labor market problems, and cooperation with the employers. This notion was inculcated in the workers through popular education. The book shows that ABF study circles became the main tool of the Trade Union Confederations identity policy in the 1920s and 1930s and its successful outcome paved the way for the renowned Swedish Model.

The Making of the Swedish Reformist Working Class

Manufacturing Consensus

Crafting the Movement presents an explanation of why the Swedish working class so unanimously adopted reformism during the interwar period. Jenny Jansson discusses the precarious time for the labor movement after the Russian Revolution in 1917 that sparked a trend towards radicalization among labor organizations and communist organizations throughout Europe and caused an identity crisis in class organizations. She reveals that the leadership of the Trade Union Confederation (LO) was well aware of the identity problems that the left-wing factions had created for the reformist unions. Crafting the Movement explains how this led labor movement leaders towards a re-formulation of the notion of the worker by constructing an organizational identity that downplayed class struggle and embraced discipline, peaceful solutions to labor market problems, and cooperation with the employers. As Jansson shows, study activities arranged by the Workers' Educational Association became the main tool of the Trade Union Confederation's identity policy in the 1920s and 1930s and its successful outcome paved the way for the well-known "Swedish Model." Thanks to generous funding from Uppsala University, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellopen.org) and other Open Access repositories.

Identity Entrepreneurs in the Swedish Trade Union Movement, 1920–1940

Crafting the Movement

Katrin Uba

This open access book investigates how trade unions representing different social classes use YouTube videos for renewal purposes. Information and communication technology has undoubtedly offered new opportunities for social movements, but while research suggests that these new means of communication can be used for trade union revitalization, few studies have examined what unions actually do on social media. By analysing more than 4500 videos that have been uploaded by Swedish trade unions, Jansson and Uba explore how unions use YouTube to address issues such as recruiting new members, improving internal democracy, promoting political campaigns and constructing (new) self-images. The results demonstrate that trade unions representing a range of social classes use different revitalization strategies via YouTube. This research will be of use to students and scholars researching European politics and political participation, trade unionism and labour movements in the digital age. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

Jenny Jansson

Books

Your next favorite book is out there