Reconfiguring welfare states in the post-industrial age: what role for trade unions?

This special issue identifies the forces which weaken or strengthen the role of unions in the reconfiguration of welfare states. The contributions cover a wide range of institutions in employment relations, different degrees of welfare state maturity and diverse social policy areas. This introduction argues that we may discern a pattern against the background of both an economic and a political role of trade unions and collective rights. Trade unions are not weakened or strengthened in any unilinear manner, but their economic and political roles evolve in different directions.