{"title":"Theorizing collective action—Instrumental collectivism as a key concept for explaining workplace collective action","authors":"Bjarke Refslund","doi":"10.1111/irel.12364","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article addresses workplace collective action. Through a discussion of instrumental and norm‐driven motivations for workers' collective action, it is argued that most workers are driven mainly by instrumental motivations—meaning, that they aim to achieve certain outcomes. Consequently, the theoretical concept of instrumental collectivism from Alan Fox is utilized to explain and understand collective action. Finally, six conditions facilitating workplace collective action, including an ideational and hence constructivist element, are identified and discussed providing a more nuanced theoretical framework of workers' collective action that allows for workers' agency and refutes that instrumentalism per se leads to individualized behavior.","PeriodicalId":47700,"journal":{"name":"Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Industrial Relations","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.12364","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This article addresses workplace collective action. Through a discussion of instrumental and norm‐driven motivations for workers' collective action, it is argued that most workers are driven mainly by instrumental motivations—meaning, that they aim to achieve certain outcomes. Consequently, the theoretical concept of instrumental collectivism from Alan Fox is utilized to explain and understand collective action. Finally, six conditions facilitating workplace collective action, including an ideational and hence constructivist element, are identified and discussed providing a more nuanced theoretical framework of workers' collective action that allows for workers' agency and refutes that instrumentalism per se leads to individualized behavior.
期刊介绍:
Corporate restructuring and downsizing, the changing employment relationship in union and nonunion settings, high performance work systems, the demographics of the workplace, and the impact of globalization on national labor markets - these are just some of the major issues covered in Industrial Relations. The journal offers an invaluable international perspective on economic, sociological, psychological, political, historical, and legal developments in labor and employment. It is the only journal in its field with this multidisciplinary focus on the implications of change for business, government and workers.