STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITATIONS: THE NORWEGIAN LABOR PARTY AND THE TRADE UNIONS.

Martin, Penny Gill

A knowledge of labor organization and labor strategy is central to an understanding of contemporary European politics, and it would be particularly useful if one could determine the most important factors affecting shifts in organization and strategy in the European labor movements. In these ways, the Norwegian experience may be somewhat different from those of some continental labor movements. It is an ideal site, however, for a study of the impact of socioeconomic change on party strategy, particularly the consequences of shifts in the occupational structure, such as rapid expansion in the tertiary sector and growth in white-collar employment. After describing the existing pattern of close cooperation between the party and the unions in Norway, this article discusses the sources of strategic innovation-the blue-collar-white-collar conundrum, discontent with collective membership, and new conceptions of class conflict. A brief analysis of a crucial political issue, Norwegian membership in the European Economic Community, will illuminate the nature of party-union cooperation and suggest several structural limitations on the party's ability to develop alternate strategies.

NORWAY; POLITICAL participation of labor unions; POLITICAL parties; NORSKE arbeiderparti (Political party : Norway); NORWEGIAN politics & government, 1945-; LABOR movement; LABOR unions; COOPERATION; WHITE collar workers; EUROPEAN Economic Community; POLITICAL science

ILR Review, 1974, Vol 28, Issue 1, p75

0019-7939

Academic Journal

10.1177/001979397402800105