Is Democracy Natural?

Abstract

This article explores the capacity of French trade unions to represent young workers. In a context of structurally weak unionization, the proportion of young employees in unions is particularly low. Research to date has focused largely on the reasons why young workers join – or fail to join – unions. The present article takes a different approach, centered on the agency relationship between young workers and trade unions. The relationship is analyzed with a focus on three points. In statistical terms, there is a clear discrepancy between the overall profile of young workers and that of young union members. Symbolically, this article demonstrates that the difficulties trade unions encounter in speaking on behalf of young people are rooted in part in the disputed nature of their agency in a variety of causes. Organizationally, this article foregrounds the confusion between various registers in union interventions targeting young people.

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