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Ever since the emergence of mass movements as a mode of political organization in the 19th century we have witnessed simultaneous waves of protest in different countries and the diffusion of social movements across nations. After a presentation of data, methods, and theory, this article endeavors to analyse the development of contentious politics in Denmark, 1914 –1995, as a function of the international distribution of power, international political and economic crises, and the diffusion of social movements. The important analytical implication is that social movements and contentious politics must not only be understood in the light of national factors, but the existence of international opportunity structures must also be considered.

The construction of a welfare state in most western industrialized countries went hand in hand with the development of an expansive public sector. Having discussed the theoretical arguments social scientists have applied to explain the increasing collective industrial activity among public employees in selected industrialized countries, this article endeavours to test the proletarianization, the organization and the interaction hypotheses alongside the welfare state crisis argument. In light of statistical data on strikes and four detailed case studies of the development of mass organizations and shopfloorbased strike activity, that is base organizations, in Denmark, only a conditional interaction model remains. This model states that the development of the public sector contributed to the growth of modem mass organizations and to the construction of informal base organizations with shared goals, especially through the establishment of large bureaucratic settings with elaborate internal labour markets. The model also confirms that base organizations acquired their main resources from, and partly owed their existence to, the formal labour unions, who themselves could not remain unaffected by the base organizations either. Finally it is argued that the combined, but often unintended, efforts by mass and base organizations introduced durable changes in the system of industrial relations, and opened up new labour market strategies for public employees.

Chapter 1: Trade Union Activism in the Nordic Countries: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Labor Market Struggles and Labor Market Relations in the Nordic Countries, 1848-2020: Trends and Fluctuations -- PART I: National And Local Trade Union Activism, 1900-1939 -- Chapter 3: The Norwegian Experience: Trade Union Opposition and Local Activism, 1900-1939 -- Chapter 4: Syndicalism and Strikes in Denmark, 1917-1920: The Syndicalist Challenge to Social Democratic Trade Union Leadership -- Chapter 5: Trade Unions, the Social Democratic Party and Labor Market Conflicts in Malmö, 1890-1910 -- Chapter 6: Anti-Strikebreaker Protests and Collective Violence in Sweden, 1918-1939 -- PART II: National And Local Trade Union Activism, 1940-2020 -- Chapter 7: Social Movement Unionism in Denmark, 1940-1985 -- Chapter 8: Mass Labor Protest and Trade Union Activism in Early Post War Copenhagen -- Chapter 9: Reluctant Vanguard? The Strikes of Finnish Building Workers' Unions, 1949-1973 -- Chapter 10: The Peak Strike Period in Finland, 1970-1980: Wildcat Strikes and Income Politics -- Chapter 11: From Street Fighting Years to Seizing the Agenda. Labor Militancy Challenging the Establishment in Norway, 1976-2010 -- Chapter 12: Reaching out. Oslo Construction Workers and Migrant Workers, 2004-2014 -- Chapter 13: Trade Unions' Protest Cycles in Sweden, 1980-2020 -- Part III: Comparative Perspective -- Chapter 14: Lockouts in Scandinavia, c. 1900-1938 -- Chapter 15: Wildcat Strikes Between 1960 and 1973: A German-Danish Comparison -- Chapter 16: Developing Public Sector Trade Unionism in Scandinavia. From Noble Civil Servants to Militant Wage Earners -- Chapter 17: Closing the Gender Pay Gap: Global Concepts, Local Negotiations in Iceland and Sweden, 1900-1985.

Providing a Nordic historical perspective, this collection aims to further our understanding of trade union activism and its role in modern society. Contributions from a range of leading scholars analyse the organisational conditions of mobilisation that were deployed by Nordic unionists, and explore the way that they interacted with other forms of social and political protest during the twentieth century. Covering illegal or so-called wildcat strikes, blockades, demonstrations and other activist measures, the authors examine the way that trade union activism in the Nordic countries aimed to move the political combat zone from the meeting rooms of the respective confederations into the streets and the public domain. The collection focuses on cases from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, but comparisons are also made with countries such as Iceland, Germany, and the USA. Exploring the ways in which political parties have intervened in Nordic trade union activism since the early twentieth century, this unique collection offers new insights for those interested in labour market dynamics and the complex process behind the formation of salary and employment conditions. Jesper Jrgensen is an Archivist and Researcher at the Workers Museum and the Labour Movements Library and Archives in Denmark. Previously, he studied History and Anthropology at Aarhus University, Denmark. He has recently published on topics like Danish left-wing activism, clandestine communist activities in Scandinavia and the impact of the October Revolution in Denmark. Flemming Mikkelsen holds a Doctorate in Political Science and a MA in History from the University of Copenhagen. He is an independent researcher working in the fields of social movements, labour activism, ethnic relations and historical sociology, and has published several books and articles on these topics, including Popular Struggle and Democracy in Scandinavia, 1700Present (Palgrave, 2018). Flemming Mikkelsen has studied and taught at the University of Copenhagen, University of Michigan, Aarhus University and Aalborg University.