Suchergebnisse

Taking the European Minimum Wage Directive as an example of solidarity in the EU, we develop a theoretical framework showing different forms of solidary action and discussing them on the transnational level. We reconstruct three types of solidarity-based form of actions that were present in the discussion of the Directive and ask which this forms have been enacted by whom and which role played bridging and bonding elements. We conclude that these elements are important to form interest groups that pushed for the development (or not) of the regulation, which in turn serves as a solidarity measure in the EU.

The proposal of a European minimum wage directive by the European Commission was supposed to improve working conditions. This article asks why such an initiative created a challenge to the unity of unions, but not of employers' associations at transnational level. The authors provide a network analysis of the communication structure of social partners. Applying Scharpf's concepts of positive and negative integration and Hirschman's typology of exit, voice and loyalty, the authors use qualitative methods to show how employers stayed loyal and united towards negative integration, while different voices arose within the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) leading to the temporary 'exit' of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation.

Given the growth in corporate art collecting, surprisingly little research has been conducted on how employees experience art in the workplace. This article draws on survey data collected in the context of add art Hamburg 2015, which included permanent and temporary exhibitions in 22 organizations. The findings confirm that the presence of artworks can interrupt routine ways of perceiving and using space. It triggers questions and conversations, which stimulate sensemaking processes and enrich relationships with colleagues. It also opens managers and employees to seeing everyday life and relationships with customers in a more holistic way. Furthermore, the study shows that the removal of artworks is experienced as loss and emptiness, as well as a harbinger of new potential. Finding that employees welcome more art at work, the article discusses the conditions under which people in organizations can engage with the arts as co-learners.

Solidarity is probably one of the most undeniable concepts of the social sciences as it is present in every group formation being this a country, a family or a trade union. But globalization has questioned the core of traditional solidarity and has challenged us to find new forms of solidarity that go beyond the borders of nation-states when we focus on the transnational or international level. Being once based on the identity and homogeneity of a group, solidarity must now transcend one specific group with a clear identity, clearly defined borders, constant and close interactions and settled stabilization mechanisms, the four prerequisites Engler (2016) found to be at its basis. Globalization brings two issues into play that break with these four prerequisites. On the one hand, it opens up the possibility to constitute groups beyond a specific geographical place and to grasp global problems such as climate change within transnational groups. On the other hand, globalization reinforces the idea of individualization and a decline of collectively shared identity which threads the classical idea of solidarity. In this paper we look for an enlarged concept of solidarity that can be grasped in different "places" in transnational working relations, taking the European Union as an example.

In this discussion paper we present the findings from our surveys of artists, employees and project owners who participated in 84 artistic interventions in organizations in Spain between 2011 and 2014. We provide an extensive introduction to the research questions, methods and findings in English, followed by 9 data reports in Spanish. The reports address the characteristics of the participating organizations, the objectives of the artistic interventions, the effects of the artistic interventions, recommendations for other organizations, and the role of the intermediary. The last report offers a comparative perspective between cases in a region in Spain and a region in Germany as a first step towards considering the effect of national culture. The report also contains a methodological note about our experience combining Web-based surveys with interviews, as well as links to the survey instruments we designed so that future studies can draw on them. (author's abstract)