Globalization is one of the most important tendencies that alter the modern world and shape peoples mentalities. Nowadays, it affects all regions of the world and all spheres of human activity. For this reason, its comprehensive investigation becomes an important task to understand the peculiarities of the issue and the way it will affect our world. It could also help to trace the evolution of human thought and alterations in our culture. Thus, Vachon, Wallace, and Hyde (2016), in their article Union decline in a Neoliberal Age delve into the issue of globalization, processes related to it, and the way they impact modern society.
Staring their investigation, the authors suggest that globalization resulted in the gradual decrease of the political power and strength of workers organizations and stipulated the reduction of union density combined with the increasing centralization or concentration of capital (Vachon et al., 2016). Researchers consider it a threatening tendency that might affect the labor market and shift the balance of power between capital and labor. Suggesting this thesis, the authors also introduce three purposes.
The first is the analysis of the effect globalization has on unionization in 18 democratic states in the period from 1981 to 2012 (Vachon et al., 2016). The second issue is the exploration of unionization regarding the ongoing financialization of national economies (Vachon et al., 2016). Finally, the authors try to find out the effects globalization, financialization, and European integration have on union density (Vachon et al., 2016).
Thus, to investigate the above-mentioned issues and prove their thesis, the researchers use statistical analysis of credible data. Vachon et al. (2016) explore the Comparative Welfare States dataset with all its updates and additions. Additionally, statistics related to 18 chosen countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States) are collected to create the background for the investigation and provide credible results (Vachon et al., 2016).
The authors compare union density between 1981 and 2010 and note the way globalization, financialization, and European integration impact it. In other words, they introduce a cross-sectional, time-series design for 18 countries for 30 years (Vachon et al., 2016). The given methodology demonstrates enhanced efficiency regarding the character of the investigated issue and the primary aim of the research.
In the course of their study, Vachon et al. (2016) conclude that globalization might have mixed effects on union density. Regarding the character of the state, it might either promote or suppress the further rise of unions. As for capital mobility, data collected in the course of the research shows that it has a positive relationship with unionization (Vachon et al., 2016). Financialization and EU membership affect unions negatively and result in their gradual collapse (Vachon et al., 2016). In such a way, the authors manage to prove their basic assumptions about the decrease in the power of workers organizations and their inability to resist forces that appear because of globalization.
Reference
Vachon, T., Wallace, M., & Hyde, A. (2016). Union decline in a Neoliberal Age: Globalization, financialization, European integration, and union density in 18 affluent democracies. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 2, 1-22. Web.