What do unions do… with digital technologies? An affordance approach

Marc‐Antonin Hennebert · Vincent Pasquier · Christian Lévesque

38 citations0/0 files storedNew Technology Work and Employment

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Labor Movements and Unions Legal and Labor Studies Digital Economy and Work Transformation

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the affordances that digital technologies offer to labour unions. The results of our study of 13 trade unions in Canada contrast with the prevailing techno‐deterministic perspectives in the literature which describe digital technologies as fundamentally good, bad or neutral for unions. By adopting an affordance approach, our paper examines how union actors perceive digital technology utility and constraints across five union core functions. The study identifies four digital information and communication technology affordances for unions (visibility, intensification, aggregation and addressability) and contributes to the literature on union renewal by showing how these affordances interact in a complex way and can reinforce trade unions' capabilities.

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References

2013Social Media Use in Organizations: Exploring the Affordances of Visibility, Editability, Persistence, and Association 2013The Contradictory Influence of Social Media Affordances on Online Communal Knowledge Sharing 2010Rethinking Industrial Relations 2012The Materiality of Technology: An Affordance Perspective 2002The Social Construction of Technology: Structural Considerations 2001Understanding European Trade Unionism: Between Market, Class and Society 2017Social Media and Their Affordances for Organizing: A Review and Agenda for Research 2017Template Analysis for Business and Management Students

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